United States v. Kelvin Steele

Kelvin Steele was convicted of armed robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and (d); using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)(1); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). He was sentenced to 235 months in jail. He now appeals his conviction on the grounds that: (1) the district court gave a coercive Allen charge, (2) the government committed prosecutorial misconduct during the voir dire and (3) the government improperly used a peremptory challenge. We affirm.

I.

On August 9, 1999, a Bank of America branch in San Francisco was robbed by a man wearing a white mask, blue and white jumpsuit, black pants, white shoes and carrying a blue shoulder bag. A government witness, a teller, Leonard Liu, testified that the robber used a silver gun to threaten the bank tellers. The robber proceeded to take cash from Liu’s cash drawer, including $400.00 in bait money and an electronic surveillance device (ESD). He then took additional cash from another teller’s drawer. Liu was able to identify the robber as an African-American because he saw black skin through the eye-holes of the…