Opinion ID: 3002157
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Attempted Bank Robbery: Jury Instruction

Text: Thornton contends that the district court erred in instructing the jury on the elements of attempted bank 8 No. 07-2839 robbery under § 2113(a) because the instruction did not require actual force and violence or intimidation. We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo, United States v. Genendo Pharm., N.V., 485 F.3d 958, 962 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 128 S. Ct. 670 (2007), and we review jury instructions for correct statements of the law de novo as well, United States v. Cote, 504 F.3d 682, 687 (7th Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 128 S. Ct. 2519 (2008). We will “reverse only if the instructions, viewed as a whole, misguide the jury to the litigant’s prejudice.” Id. (quotation omitted); United States v. Palivos, 486 F.3d 250, 257 (7th Cir. 2007) (indicating that when the jury instructions contain an error of law, we reverse if the instructions “viewed as a whole, misguide the jury to the litigant’s prejudice” (citation omitted)). The district court instructed the jury: To sustain the charge of attempted bank robbery, as alleged in Count 1 of the indictment, the government must prove the following propositions: First, that the defendant attempted to take from the person or presence of another money belonging to and in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of Bank One, 6532 West Cermak Road, Berwyn, Illinois; Second, that at the time charged in the indictment, Bank One, 6532 West Cermak Road, Berwyn, Illinois, had its deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Third, the defendant acted to attempt to take such money by force and violence or by intimidation. No. 07-2839 9 In considering whether this instruction correctly states the law, we look to the statute itself, which states: Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another, or obtains or attempts to obtain by extortion 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; or Whoever enters or attempts to enter any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association, or any building used in whole or in part as a bank, credit union, or as a savings and loan association, with intent to commit in such bank, credit union, or in such savings and loan association, or building, or part thereof, so used, any felony affecting such bank, credit union, or such savings and loan association and in violation of any statute of the United States, or any larceny— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Thornton was charged under the first paragraph of § 2113(a). He contends that the statute’s plain language requires a finding of actual force and violence or intimidation. He also asserts that the structure of § 2113(a) as a whole, legislative history, case law, and policy considerations all support the conclusion that actual force and violence or intimidation are required. We need go no further than the statutory language itself. 10 No. 07-2839 In analyzing the first paragraph of § 2113(a), we “begin by examining the text.” Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 271 (2000). The relevant language for our purposes is: “Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take. . . .” 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Among the circuits that have directly addressed the issue, there is a split as to whether the statute requires proof of actual force and violence or intimidation. In United States v. Bellew, 369 F.3d 450, 453-56 (5th Cir. 2004), the Fifth Circuit held that the most natural reading of the text of the statute requires that a defendant actually commit an act of intimidation; attempted intimidation is insufficient under the first paragraph of § 2113(a). See also United States v. Brown, 412 F.2d 381, 384 n.4 (8th Cir. 1969) (approving of jury instruction on intimidation that required proof of one or more acts or statements done or made so as to produce in an ordinary person fear of bodily harm); United States v. Baker, 129 F. Supp. 684, 686 (S.D. Cal. 1955) (“It is apparent that in [the first paragraph of § 2113(a)] the ‘attempt’ relates to the taking and not to the intimidation”). In Bellew, the Fifth Circuit further considered § 2113(a)’s legislative history as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Prince v. United States, 352 U.S. 322 (1957), as support for its conclusion. Bellew, 369 F.3d at 455 (“It is a fair inference from the wording in the Act, uncontradicted by anything in the meager legislative history, that the unlawful entry provision was inserted [as the second paragraph of Section 2113(a)] to cover the situation where a person enters a bank for the purpose of committing a crime, but is frustrated for some reason before completing the crime.” (alteration in original) (quoting Prince, 352 U.S. at 328)). No. 07-2839 11 The Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits, however, have concluded that an attempt to use force and violence or intimidate is sufficient under the statute, United States v. Jackson, 560 F.2d 112, 116-17 (2d Cir. 1977) (applying the logic of United States v. Stallworth, 543 F.2d 1038, 1040 (2d Cir. 1976), which addressed the “substantial step” element of attempt crime, to the first paragraph of § 2113(a)); United States v. McFadden, 739 F.2d 149, 152 (4th Cir. 1984) (following Jackson); United States v. Wesley, 417 F.3d 612, 618 (6th Cir. 2005); United States v. Moore, 921 F.2d 207, 209 (9th Cir. 1990), but they did so without analyzing the statutory text. These courts relied on the elements of an attempt crime—the specific intent to commit a crime and a substantial step towards the commission of that crime—instead. We do not find these cases persuasive because they omit an appropriate statutory analysis. The Fifth Circuit’s approach to interpreting § 2113(a) comports with the approach we have taken in analyzing 18 U.S.C. § 2114(a)—we examine the statutory text. In United States v. Salgado, 519 F.3d 411 (7th Cir. 2008), we considered the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2114(a), adhering to the plain language because it was clear and unambiguous.1 Salgado points us in the right direction to answer the question before us: simply read the text. Under a straightforward reading of § 2113(a), the “attempt” language relates only 1 At oral argument we requested supplemental briefing on the effect of Salgado which was decided after the briefing in this case. 12 No. 07-2839 to the taking and not to the intimidation. The government argues that all that is necessary is that a defendant attempt to intimidate while attempting to rob a bank. If that were so, attempt would relate to the “by force and violence or intimidation” language and the statute would have begun with, “Whoever attempts by force and violence or intimidation to take . . . .” The “by force and violence, or by intimidation” language relates to both “takes” and the phrase “attempts to take.” Accordingly, actual force and violence or intimidation is required for a conviction under the first paragraph of § 2113(a), whether the defendant succeeds (takes) or fails (attempts to take) in his robbery attempt. As the government did in Salgado, it again attempts to stretch federal law to cover an act that is not criminalized by the statute at issue. In both cases in its effort to do so, the government relied on the elements of an attempt crime and “a parade of horribles.” Salgado, 519 F.3d at 413. Thornton could have been prosecuted under the second paragraph of § 2113(a) 2 so the government is not without a law under which to seek conviction of defendants under similar factual circumstances. The government notes that the second paragraph of § 2113(a) cannot serve as a predicate crime of violence to support a § 924(c)(3) charge. That is correct. But we cannot bend the statute simply 2 In fact, he was initially charged with a violation of the second paragraph of § 2113(a) in the complaint when he was arrested. It appears that this suitable charge was abandoned in favor of the first paragraph count in the indictment so that the firearm count (with a mandatory consecutive penalty) could be added. No. 07-2839 13 to accommodate the government’s zeal to obtain stiffer penalties. We begin and end with the statutory text, see Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co., 505 U.S. 469, 475 (1992): the first paragraph of § 2113(a) requires actual intimidation for a conviction. The district court’s instruction did not require the jury to find actual intimidation, thus omitting an essential element necessary for a conviction. This legal error prejudiced Thornton because it allowed the jury to convict him without finding actual intimidation beyond a reasonable doubt, and so we will reverse the conviction under § 2113(a). See, e.g., United States v. Perez, 43 F.3d 1131, 1139-40 (7th Cir. 1994) (noting that the failure to correctly instruct on the elements of the offense usually results in reversal). The next section determines whether the reversal should be accompanied by a new trial or a judgment of acquittal.