Coles v. State

821 A.2d 389, 374 Md. 114, 2003 Md. LEXIS 163
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 10, 2003
Docket51, Sept. Term, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 821 A.2d 389 (Coles v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coles v. State, 821 A.2d 389, 374 Md. 114, 2003 Md. LEXIS 163 (Md. 2003).

Opinions

BATTAGLIA, J.

Petitioner LeOn Coles, Jr. (hereinafter “Coles”) entered the same bank on three separate occasions, walked up to a teller, and presented her with a note demanding money. After each teller complied, Coles left the bank with the money. Based on this conduct, the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, sitting without a jury, convicted him of three counts of robbery. Coles challenges the robbery convictions on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he stole the money by instilling fear in the tellers. Because a rational fact finder could conclude, under the circumstances of this case, that there was sufficient evidence to satisfy the intimidation or “putting in fear” element of robbery, we shall affirm the convictions.

[117]*117I. Background

On Saturday, January 23, 1999, at about 10:00 a.m., Coles, wearing a baseball hat, a jacket or bulky shirt, and a scarf around his neck, entered the Dundalk branch of First National Bank of Maryland (hereinafter “First National”), approached teller Anna Estes, and gave her a bag and a note that she recalled as stating, “|P]ut some money in the bag.” The note also ordered her “not to hit an alarm, not to let anybody know,” and to return the note. Ms. Estes, who had thirty years of experience as a teller, “tried to talk him out of it” and “took [her] elbow and pushed the note to the floor.” Ms. Estes then placed $120, comprised of six twenty-dollar bills, into the bag, closed it, and handed it to Coles. Coles opened the bag, looked inside, and said, “Where’s the note?” Ms Estes responded, “I don’t know,” whereupon Coles “looked at [her],” and warned, “Well, you better find it.” Ms. Estes complied. The incident with Coles made Ms. Estes “a little nervous” and concerned “because there were other people in the bank” and because “you never know what could happen” in such a situation.

On Saturday, November 25, 2000, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Coles walked into the same branch of the bank, the name of which had changed from First National to Allfirst. Coles approached teller Janice Hall, who “welcomed him to Allfirst.” Standing silent, Coles handed her a money market withdrawal form that had not been filled out. Ms. Hall “immediately felt something was bad.” She turned the form over, and on the back was written, she recalled, “Put the money in the bag, no bait money, and no one will get hurt.” Ms. Hall’s “heart started beating really fast, and [she] got very nervous.” Coles then put a bag on the counter, into which Ms. Hall placed “about $1,545.” Ms. Hall tried to “push the note over,” but Coles “put his hand over” and said, “Give me back [the note].” She did so “as quickly as [she] could.” Coles took the bag of money and left the bank. Ms. Hall related that the incident “was the scariest moment of [her] life.”

[118]*118About two weeks later, on December 9, 2000, Coles entered the same branch of Allfirst bank, walked over to a counter where he picked up some forms, and got in line to speak to a teller, Bernice Swann. Ms. Swann was “a little suspicious about what [Coles] was doing” because Coles was “writing as he was standing in line.” Ms. Swann’s suspicions were confirmed when Coles handed her a bag and a note, which was written on the back of a retail account transfer form. The note commanded, “Put all the money in the bag no alarms thank you.” Ms. Swann complied by placing $1,070 into the bag, because from her side of the teller counter, “you can’t see a person,” and she therefore “had no idea what [Coles] had.” Indeed, a photograph from the bank’s security camera entered into evidence shows Coles wearing long pants, a jacket, knit cap, and dark sunglasses. Moreover, there were “other people in the bank, so you comply. You do what you’re supposed to do.” After Ms. Swann placed the money in the bag, Coles left the bank. During the incident, he never said anything to Ms. Swann and did not ask her to return the note.

On December 16, 2000, police arrested Coles based upon information provided by his girlfriend that he had been involved in the three bank robberies. He later was charged in a nine-count criminal information filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. The first three counts concerned the January 23, 1999 bank incident, charging Coles with robbery and second degree assault1 of Anna Estes, and misdemeanor [119]*119theft.2 Counts four through six involved the November 25, 2000 bank incident, charging robbery and second degree assault of Janice Hall, and felony theft.3 Counts seven through nine covered the December 9, 2000 bank incident, charging robbery and second degree assault of Bernice Swann and felony theft.

At the conclusion of a pretrial motions hearing on June 6, 2001, Coles waived his right to a jury trial. Thereafter, on June 7, 2001, the Honorable Lawrence R. Daniels of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County heard testimony from the three tellers, and reviewed documentary evidence, including two security camera photographs and the note given to Ms. Swann on December 9, 2000.

At the close of the State’s case, Coles moved for judgment of acquittal, arguing, among other things, that the State had failed to prove sufficient facts to meet the intimidation element of robbery. After the Circuit Court denied Coles’s motion, Coles testified that he was the individual who stood “in front of’ the tellers on January 23, 1999, November 25, 2000, and December 9, 2000. Coles maintained, however, that he was physically and mentally abused by his girlfriend and was, [120]*120therefore, acting under duress. At the close of his case, Coles renewed his motion for judgment of acquittal, which was denied by the Circuit Court.

Judge Daniels, in adjudicating Coles’s guilt stated: “His confession admits that he committed these offenses, and therefore, the Court finds him guilty as charged of the three bank robberies. With regard to the lesser-included offenses of assault and theft, they merge into the robberies for sentencing purposes.” Judge Daniels then sentenced Coles:

[O]n Count 1, the sentence of the Court is ten years to the Department of Corrections, that sentence being imposed under Article 27, Section 6434 being a minimum mandatory sentence. As to the second robbery count, which is Count 4, the robbery of Janice Hall, the Court imposes a consecutive sentence of ten years to the Department of Corrections.

Judge Daniels further declared:

On the third robbery count which is Count 7, the Court imposes a consecutive sentence of ten years. The Court will suspend nine of those 10 years, so the total time to be served is 21 years. When you get out of jail, you’ll be on five years’ supervised probation, with the other nine years hanging over your head.

[121]*121Coles appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed in an unreported opinion. We granted certiorari, Coles v. State, 370 Md. 268, 805 A.2d 265 (2002), to address the following issues, which we have rephrased:5

I. Whether the evidence in the instant case was sufficient to support Coles’s convictions for three counts of robbery.
II. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Cole’s convictions for three counts of second degree assault.
III.

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Bluebook (online)
821 A.2d 389, 374 Md. 114, 2003 Md. LEXIS 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coles-v-state-md-2003.