United States v. Brian Keith George
Opinion
Opinion
Noonan, J.
Brian Keith George was convicted of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and (d). He appeals, alleging error in two rulings of the trial court. We affirm.
FACTS
On the afternoon of September 2, 1990 two men wearing nylon stockings over their faces held up the Key Bank of Oregon in St. Paul, Oregon. One of the robbers was armed with a hand gun, the other with a knife. They forced teller Debra Schiel to take her keys and proceed to the vault area where they obtained over $50,-000. Schiel observed the robber with the gun, who was in charge, for a period of from three to five minutes and from a distance from approximately two to three feet. She could see facial features through the nylon stocking. She subsequently iden tified a photograph of George as the man with the gun. At the trial she testified: “I am certain that this is the individual.”
Circumstantial evidence also pointed to George as follows: A citizen informed the FBI that he had seen one Tony Crawford near the bank the morning of the robbery; Crawford had previously burglarized the citizen’s home. The FBI then learned that George had been in Crawford’s company during the morning. The car Crawford was using…