Opinion ID: 767983
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jury Instruction for a Lesser Included Offense.

Text: 26 The jury convicted Waldon of violating 18 U.S.C. §2113(a) (bank robbery). When the district court met with the parties to discuss jury instructions, Waldon asked the court to instruct the jury that it could convict him, instead, of a lesser included offense, 18 U.S.C. §2113(b) (bank larceny). Waldon argues that the district court erred when it refused. 27 Waldon is correct that, if a defendant asks for a lesser included offense instruction, it is generally reversible error not to give it. See Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 208 (1973) (it is now beyond dispute that the defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser included offense if the evidence would permit a jury rationally to find him guilty of the lesser offense and acquit him of the greater). The reason for this is to ensure[] that the jury will accord the defendant the full benefit of the reasonable-doubt standard. Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 634 (1980). A defendant is not entitled to a lesser offense instruction, however, unless he can meet both prongsof a two-part test: (1) the elements of the lesser offense are a subset of the elements of the charged offense; and (2) the evidence would allow a rational jury to find the defendant guilty of the lesser offense but not guilty of the charged offense. Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 716 (1989); Keeble, 412 U.S. at 208; see Fed. R. Crim. P. 31(c) (permitting a jury to convict a defendant of a lesser offense as long as it is necessarily included in the offense charged). Where the lesser offense requires an element not required for the greater offense, no instruction is to be given under Rule 31(c). Schmuck, 489 U.S. at 716. 28 Regarding the first prong - whether the elements of bank larceny are a subset of the elements of bank robbery - the federal Circuit Courts of Appeals are split 2 . The offense with which Waldon was charged, 18 U.S.C. §2113(a), provides in relevant part: 29 Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of , any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association . . . . [s]hall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. 30 (Emphasis added). In contrast, 18 U.S.C. §2113(b), provides in relevant part: 31 Whoever takes and carries away, with intent to steal or purloin, any property or money or any other thing of value exceeding $100 belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. 32 (Emphasis added). Those Circuits that hold bank larceny is not a lesser included offense base their rulings on the fact that the element of specific intent is explicitly contained in §2113(b), but not §2113(a). Those Circuits reaching the opposite conclusion, on the other hand, generally premise their conclusion on the belief that specific intent to steal is an implied element of bank robbery. As the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals explained in United States v. Brittain, 41 F.3d 1409 (10th Cir. 1994): 33 in circuits in which specific intent is not an element of section 2113(a), section 2113(b) is not technically a lesser included offense of section 2113(a). This is because each offense would have an element that the other lacked: section 2113(a) would require a finding that the defendant accomplished the taking either by using force or violence or by acting in an intimidating manner, while section 2113(b) would require a finding that the defendant acted with an intent to steal while section 2113(a) would not. 34 Id. at 1415 n.7 (quoting Modern Fed. Jury Instrs. ¶53.01 at 53-22 (Matthew Bender 1994)). See also United States v. Mosley, 126 F.3d 200 (3rd Cir. 1997), cert. granted in part, 118 S. Ct. 1298 (1998), order granting cert. vacated, 525 U.S. 120 (1998) (discussing at length the analyses of this question undertaken by different courts). 35 This Court has not yet decided whether the elements of bank larceny are a subset of the elements of bank robbery. Indeed, we once had the opportunity to examine this issue, but affirmatively declined to do so. United States v. Perry, 991 F.2d 304, 311 (6th Cir. 1993) 3 . We will again declineto do so here, because Waldon cannot meet the second prong of the two-part test for entitlement to a charge of a lesser included offense. 36 Even if we agreed with Waldon that the elements of bank larceny are a subset of the elements of bank robbery, Waldon is still not entitled to a bank larceny jury instruction unless he can also show that the evidence at trial would allow a rational jury to find him guilty of bank larceny but not guilty of bank robbery. Waldon cannot make this showing. Intimidation in the context of 18 U.S.C. §2113(a) is defined as an act by a defendant 'reasonably calculated to put another in fear,' or 'conduct and words . . . calculated to create the impression that any resistance or defiance by the [individual] would be met by force.' United States v. Lajoie, 942 F.2d 699, 701 n.5 (10th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 919 (1991) (citations omitted). The evidence at trial was that Waldon wore a mask over his face, ordered everyone in the bank to lie down on the floor, and demanded money from the tellers. This is exactly the type of behavior that is reasonably calculated to put other persons in fear and create the impression that resistance would be forcefully overcome. It is immaterial that Waldon did not brandish a weapon. In Perry, the defendant demanded money from a teller and opened his coat, implying he had a weapon in his pocket, but never actually brandished a weapon. The Perry court concluded: 37 We need not reach the issue of whether bank larceny is a lesser included offense of bank robbery, since there is no evidence in the record to support a finding that the lesser included offense of bank larceny, which lacks the element of force and violence or intimidation, was committed while the greater offense of bank robbery was not. In short, no rational jury could have found that the teller in this case handed over the money to the defendant out of any other motivation than fear, and the district court did not err in refusing to give the requested instruction. 38 Id. at 310-311 (footnote and citation omitted). 39 The analysis in Perry applies equally to the circumstances in this case. Waldon cannot show that a rational jury could convict him of bank larceny but acquit him of bank robbery. Thus, the district court did not err when it refused to give to the jury an instruction on bank larceny, regardless of whether bank larceny is properly characterized as a lesser included offense of bank robbery. 40