United States v. Dwight Armstrong

Dwight Armstrong appeals his convictions for three armed bank robberies. We agree with appellant that the trial court erred in excluding evidence which indicated that another man may have committed one of the robberies, and we reverse his conviction on that count. The convictions on the remaining counts are affirmed.

The first robbery charged against Armstrong was of the World Savings & Loan Association in Sacramento on July 11,1978. Armstrong was also charged with two robberies that occurred only thirty minutes apart on August 14,1978. At 2:15 p. m. on that day a man robbed the American National Bank in Sacramento. Thirty minutes later a man robbed a branch of the Bank of America in Sacramento.

The evidence linking Armstrong to the World Savings robbery on July 11 and the American National robbery on August 14 consisted primarily of eyewitness testimony by tellers. As for the Bank of America robbery, there was eyewitness testimony (including the testimony of one teller who saw the full face of the robber when his bandana fell down), as well as evidence that Armstrong was in possession of bait bills taken in that robbery and a newspaper clipping describing the…