United States v. Juan Carlos Zuniga
Opinion
Opinion
Pregerson, J.
Juan Carlos Zuniga was convicted of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a). He was sentenced to prison. He appeals because the trial court failed to give the jury an alibi instruction. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse.
At 5:45 p.m., April 19, 1991, the Valley National Bank in Phoenix, Arizona was robbed. A lone robber gave a bank teller a demand note that stated: “4,000 or I’ll blow your head off. At you a gun I got pointed.” The teller gave the robber $1,705.00. Once the robber left the bank, an off-duty police officer, who was a customer of the bank, shouted that there were “two black men” in the robber’s getaway car. Police traced the license plate number of the getaway car to Andres Gonzales Portal.
Portal told police that he had driven to the bank on April 19 with a friend, Damaso Olivera, and a casual acquaintance, Juan Zuniga. Portal, like Zuniga, is a heavy-set Black man of medium height, with a medium complexion, who speaks with a Cuban accent. Portal stated that only Zuniga had entered the bank, for about ten minutes. Portal also stated that he had no knowledge of any robbery occurring in the bank.