United States v. Andreas Jejuan Smith

370 F. App'x 29
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 15, 2010
Docket09-12924
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 370 F. App'x 29 (United States v. Andreas Jejuan Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Andreas Jejuan Smith, 370 F. App'x 29 (11th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Following a jury tidal, Andreas JeJuan Smith was convicted of bank robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Smith appeals the bank robbery conviction and his sentence. After review and oral argument, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In August 2007, Smith was indicted for bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (Count One); using a deadly or dangerous weapon to assault law enforcement officials while they were engaged in the performance of their official duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(b) (Count Two); using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of the assault on law enforcement officials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(l)(A)(iii) (Count Three); and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Count Four). A jury convicted Smith on Counts One and Four and acquitted him on Counts Two and Three.

A. Trial Evidence

Annette Gurley testified that on June 22, 2007, she was a bank teller at Compass Bank, a federally insured bank in Montgomery, Alabama. A man approached her window and handed her a note that read, “This is a robbery.” The man stuck his hand in his pocket, said he had a weapon, and told her to open her drawer. Gurley opened her drawer and pulled out money, which included “bait money” that had serial numbers recorded by the bank. The man placed the money in a black tube sock. When Gurley counted the money in *31 her drawer after the robbery, she determined the man had taken $5,290.

At trial, Gurley identified Smith as the man who robbed Compass Bank. Gurley testified she was within a foot or two of Smith during the robbery. Gurley saw the right and left sides of his face, and noted there was a large bandage on his neck covering what looked like a burn. He wore a hat that obscured the top of his forehead. He looked to be in his twenties.

Four days after the robbery, Gurley thought a man working at a Hooters restaurant she was visiting resembled the robber and was staring at her. Gurley called the police, who showed her a photographic lineup that included the Hooters employee. Gurley did not identify anyone from that photographic lineup as the bank robber. On July 2, 2007, police showed Gurley another photographic lineup, and she did identify one of the men as the robber. The man she identified was Smith.

On cross-examination, Gurley admitted that when she was interviewed by police officers immediately after the robbery, she was asked whether she could identify the robber, and she said, “I think, I mean no, I couldn’t, but I think so.” As confirmed by the bank’s security cameras, Gurley’s entire encounter with the robber lasted forty-six seconds.

Daniel Robinson testified he was working at Compass Bank when the robbery occurred. He saw an African-American man exit a black Chrysler Sebring in front of the bank and enter the bank. The man stood in line behind Robinson, who was at Gurley’s window. Robinson finished talking to Gurley and returned to his office in the bank. Robinson heard a commotion, which led him to believe a robbery was occurring, and he contacted Gurley’s supervisor to report the possible robbery. Robinson returned to the lobby and saw a man running out the front door. In a photographic lineup on July 2, 2007, Robinson identified Smith as the robber. However, he was not “one hundred percent” sure of his identification. Robinson characterized his degree of certainty as “closer to eighty, seventy [percent].” Because the robber pulled his hat down low, Robinson only saw the bottom part of the robber’s face.

Raymond McCoy, who lived near Compass Bank, testified he saw a black Chrysler leaving the bank about the time of the robbery. He saw two African-American males in the car, which had a yellow “Support Our Troops” sticker on it.

Detective David Hill of the Montgomery Police Department testified he investigated the Compass Bank robbery. On June 29, 2007, Hill saw a car matching the description of the Compass Bank getaway car. The car Hill saw had a “Support Our Troops” sticker. Hill conducted a traffic stop and discovered the car belonged to Smith’s father, Glenn Teague. Hill learned that Smith also drove the car. For this reason, Hill prepared a photographic lineup that included Smith to show Gurley and Robinson. Both Gurley and Robinson had been presented with an earner photographic lineup that did not include Smith’s photograph, and neither witness identified the robber in any of the earlier-presented photographs. After Gurley and Robinson identified Smith from the photographic lineup, Hill obtained a warrant for Smith’s arrest. After Smith’s eventual arrest on July 20, 2007 described below, Hill saw Smith at the jail and observed that Smith had a tattoo on the left side of his neck where the bank’s security video showed the bandage on the robber’s neck.

John Hamilton, a deputy United States Marshal, testified that in July 2007, he was *32 assigned, as part of a task force, to locate and arrest Smith. Hamilton testified that the Montgomery Police Department had requested help in locating and arresting Smith after Hill obtained the warrant for Smith’s arrest. On July 20, 2007, at about 11:00 p.m., the task force located Smith at the home of Willie Jackson. Deputy Hamilton, along with a fellow task force member, Officer Duane Richardson, conducted a “knock and talk” at Jackson’s house. Smith, whom Deputy Hamilton recognized from photographs, opened the door partway. Deputy Hamilton identified himself as a United States Marshal and told Smith to come out. Smith quickly closed the door, and Deputy Hamilton tried unsuccessfully to kick the door open. Officer Richardson succeeded in kicking the door open. At that point, two shots were fired through the door. Deputy Hamilton heard the two rounds, but did not see anything except for two holes that appeared in the door and the doorjamb.

Deputy Hamilton ran to the back of the house, where another member of the task force, Deputy United States Marshal Ted Williams, was waiting. Deputy Hamilton entered through a back door and saw Jackson lying on a sofa, another man— Jamaal Clark — in the corner, and Smith running towards the back of the house. As Smith ran, he threw a semiautomatic handgun onto the floor. Deputy Hamilton caught Smith and handcuffed him.

In a safety sweep of the house, the task force members found a rifle on the floor next to the sofa, the semiautomatic handgun — a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson — on the floor, and a rifle upstairs. Two spent .40 caliber shell casings were found in the kitchen. Deputy Hamilton testified he never saw Jackson or Clark with a gun in their hands. Deputy Hamilton never saw who fired the shots but, based on his training and what he saw and heard that night, he believed “[wjithout a doubt” that Smith was the one who shot at him.

' Clark testified he was in the bathroom when Hamilton and Richardson knocked on the door.

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370 F. App'x 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-andreas-jejuan-smith-ca11-2010.