Boyce Leon Mosco and Fred John Hansen v. United States

301 F.2d 180
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 18, 1962
Docket17130
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 301 F.2d 180 (Boyce Leon Mosco and Fred John Hansen v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyce Leon Mosco and Fred John Hansen v. United States, 301 F.2d 180 (9th Cir. 1962).

Opinion

BARNES, Circuit Judge.

Two separate appeals were consolidated for hearing before us. Boyce Leon Mosco and Fred John Hansen were jointly indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (d), charged with armed bank robbery. The specific charge was that by force, violence and intimidation upon certain individuals, 1 through the use of hand guns, they took $11,297.09 belonging to and in the care, control and possession of ILWH Local 13, Federal Credit Union, “a Federal credit union, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2113(g).” 2

Jurisdiction was conferred upon the district court by § 2113, Title 18 United States Code. This court has jurisdiction by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

I — FACTS

Because the insufficiency of the evidence is urged as one ground of appeal, it becomes necessary to consider the evidence.

The jury, by its verdict, resolved all factual doubts in favor of the government. And this court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to support the judgment. 3 Therefore we adopt the statement of facts set forth by appellee in its brief, which appellants do not dispute.

*182 Shortly after 4:00 P.M. on January 21, 1960, a Federal Credit Union (Longshoremen’s Local No. 13) at Wilmington, California, was robbed by two gunmen wearing stocking masks. “Approximately” $11,297.09 was taken.

A few minutes before the robbery, a witness (a photographer who occupied the office across the hall from the Federal Credit Union), left the building. As he walked down the front steps, he saw appellant Hansen standing to his left “fiddling” with his shoe. The witness nodded but Hansen did not respond. As he passed Hansen, the witness noted that there was something wrong with the eyes of the man he identified as Hansen; it appeared that one eye did not match the other.

Minutes later, two gunmen wearing stocking masks entered the Credit Union. Three female tellers were standing near the cashier windows. One Robertson, a Federal Credit Union Examiner; and Osornio, the Credit Union Treasurer; and Ruth Johnson, the Credit Union Manager, were in the back part of the office, where Robertson, was talking on the telephone. Teller McCluskey was startled as she turned from her conversation with Teller Hennessy by a gun which was placed against her stomach by one of the robbers. The robber stated to Mrs. McCluskey, “I mean it, lady. Get in the wault [sic, vault].” The gunman had something wrong with his eyes and spoke with a Scandinavian accent.

Tellers Hennessy, Curtis and McCluskey were herded into the vault. Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Osornio and Mr. Robertson were then ushered at gunpoint into the vault with the others. The gunmen forced their prisoners to get on their knees and face the rear of the vault. One of the gunmen said: “Keep your head down, I mean it. Keep your head down. I don’t want to kill anyone.” Mrs. Hennessy was forced to empty the contents of the cash boxes into a paper bag handed to her by one of the gunmen.

One teller pleaded not to be locked in the vault as she and the two other ladies had children. The plea was unheeded and the vault was locked, imprisoning the six persons in the airtight confines of the vault. One of the men found a coin on the floor of the vault which he used to remove some of the screws from the locking mechanism, thereby enabling the victims to escape before they were suffocated. Mrs. McCluskey, Mrs. Hennessy and Mrs. Johnson identified Mosco as one of the robbers. It was noted that Mosco had a clumsy stride and a bounce to his walk. Hansen’s identification as one of the robbers was made by Robertson, Osornio, Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. McCluskey, and Mrs. Hennessy. Hansen is a native of Denmark. He is blind in one eye, having no muscular control over that eye.

About one hour after the robbery, Hans Andersen, an old friend and countryman of Hansen, saw Mosco and Hansen with a large sum of money spread out on Mosco’s bed in his apartment located at 5437 Virginia Avenue, just off the Hollywood Freeway. As Hansen and Andersen were about to leave, Mosco cautioned Andersen that since he was the only one that knew about “it” (the money), anything that came out of “it” had to come from Andersen.

A few weeks prior to the robbery, one Paul Lomeli, a longshoreman, early one morning saw two men walking around the outside of the Credit Union office. The men peeked through the window into the Credit Union. One of the men had a “droopy” eye. Lomeli identified Hansen as this man. The other man had a protruding chin and looked like Mosco. Because of what he had seen Lomeli noted the license number of the car in which they were riding, and wrote the number on a “check stub.” (Exhibit 5 in evidence.) The license number was SXV788.

Hans Andersen was the owner of a Ford automobile bearing license number SXV788. Andersen lived in Pasadena ánd repossessed automobiles for a living. Andersen allowed his old friend Hansen to live with him, since Hansen was unemployed and without funds. Andersen had known Hansen in Denmark before .each had come to the United States; and he allowed Hansen to drive his Ford au *183 tomobile (license number SXV788) as often as he wished. On the morning of January 21, 1960, Mosco visited Hansen at the Andersen’s residence.

On the evening of January 21, 1960, when Andersen and Hansen had returned from Mosco’s apartment where the money had been seen on the bed, Hansen gave Andersen $20 and Andersen’s wife $60. A little later that same evening the Andersen residence was visited by FBI representatives, who questioned both Andersen and Hansen as to their whereabouts at 4:00 P.M. on that afternoon. At first Andersen told the agents that he had been working and that he was alone. Later, after a conversation with Hansen in Danish, Andersen changed his story and told the agents that he and Hansen had been together at 4:00 P.M. on January 21, 1960. Soon after the agents left Hansen also left, driving Andersen’s Ford, and took a suitcase with him.

Hansen went to the apartment of one Leisten, another friend and fellow Dane. When Leisten returned from work at about midnight on January 21, 1960, he found Hansen waiting in his apartment. Hansen stayed with Leisten that night. The following day they went to Hansen’s room at the Salem Manor Hotel, where they were joined by two girls and a man. Hansen gambled with some of the others and lost about $300 in cash and about $2,000 in I.O.U.s. The following morning they returned to Leisten’s apartment.

A day or so after the robbery Andersen was visited by a stranger, Mr. Kimo. Andersen followed Mr. Kimo to a bar where he met Hansen. Hansen then requested Andersen not to change his story which he had given to the FBI agents on the night of the robbery. Hansen was then driven to the airport by Leisten. Hansen appeared to be nervous. While at the airport, Hansen showed Leisten a large sum of money and gave him an envelope containing five $100 bills.

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