Opinion ID: 4543708
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: BOA Robbery on September 7, 2016

Text: About two weeks later, the BOA Smyrna branch was robbed. The government proved the BOA robbery by: (1) eyewitness testimony; (2) recordings of the 911 calls; (3) videos and still images from a surveillance camera inside the BOA branch; and (4) evidence about Caldwell’s arrest near the robbery scene and within ten feet of a bag containing his bandana, wig, handgun, about $4,000, and a GPS tracker. The modus operandi of the BOA robbery was the same as the Noa Bank robbery. On September 7, 2016, at approximately 10:07 a.m., a black male entered the BOA branch and approached the teller, Kathryn Crist, who was with a 3 Case: 18-13426 Date Filed: 06/24/2020 Page: 4 of 28 customer. The man placed a bag on the counter, pointed a handgun at the customer’s face and then at teller Crist’s face, while standing only two feet away from Crist, and ordered Crist to put money in the bag. Crist complied and placed over $3,000 in the bag along with a GPS tracking device. The robber was in the bank for approximately one minute and escaped on foot. At trial, Crist and her customer testified that the robber, a black male, wore a black or dark-colored, inside-out t-shirt with a Steelers’ logo on it, blue jeans, a wig or something unnatural on his head, and a blue or blue and white bandana covering his face. The surveillance video and still images confirmed these details. Officers, who later reviewed the video and still images, testified that the robber’s wig appeared to be in a dreadlock style and that his jeans had a white mark on the lower left calf. Teller Crist focused on both the robber and his handgun pointed at her. Crist testified that the robber was approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall with a slight-to-medium build. The customer described the robber as “not a tall person.” Crist and her customer testified, and the surveillance video and still images confirmed, that the robber’s bag was black and that his handgun was silver/gray and black. Police were already on the way when the robber entered the BOA branch because employees of a nearby State Farm office had called 911 after seeing a man with a handgun crouching in the bushes and facing the BOA branch. The State 4 Case: 18-13426 Date Filed: 06/24/2020 Page: 5 of 28 Farm employee who called 911 told the dispatcher that the man had “dreads”; was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes; and was putting on a blue bandana mask. At trial, the employee and her coworker testified to this same description, except that the employee did not mention the robber’s “dreads,” and her coworker stated that the robber’s bandana was blue and white and that he appeared to be wearing a large wig. Based on the State Farm 911 call, the 911 dispatcher called the BOA branch and spoke with Crist. Crist told the 911 dispatcher that the robber was a black man; was about 5 feet 9 inches tall with a slight build; dressed in black and wore a blue bandana on his face; possibly wore a hat; and carried a black bag and a handgun. After the two calls, the 911 dispatcher gave police this description: a black male with “dreads,” wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans, black shoes, and a blue bandana over his face, carrying a black bag and a handgun. The GPS tracker, which teller Crist dropped into the robber’s bag, led officers to a cul-de-sac on Glen Pointe Way, located less than a quarter mile from the BOA branch. Approximately ten minutes after the robbery—with the help of a homeowner on the cul-de-sac who saw a man with a black bag in his backyard— the officers discovered Caldwell crouched on the side of a house on Glen Pointe Way. At the time, Caldwell was wearing clothing that matched the robber’s: a 5 Case: 18-13426 Date Filed: 06/24/2020 Page: 6 of 28 black or dark-colored, inside-out Steelers t-shirt, jeans with a white mark on the rear of the left leg, and dark-colored shoes. According to one officer, Caldwell’s eyebrows and forehead also matched the robber’s.1 Between 10:18 and 10:20 a.m., Caldwell was detained, handcuffed, and placed into a patrol car. Around 10:31 a.m., the officers found a black bag hidden in the bushes approximately ten feet from where Caldwell was found crouching. Officers testified, and body camera footage and still images confirmed, that the bag contained a black dreadlock wig, a blue and white bandana fashioned into a mask, a loaded silver and black handgun, about $4,000, and a GPS tracker. Detective William Turner drove teller Crist to where police had found Caldwell to conduct a show-up identification. Crist told Detective Turner that she had seen the robber’s face only from the bandana up and did not know if she could give a “spot-on identification.” Around 10:35 to 10:40 a.m., officers removed a handcuffed Caldwell from another patrol car and faced him toward Crist. Crist could not remember whether the man was handcuffed. Crist confirmed to Detective Turner that Caldwell appeared to be the same sex, height, build, race, and skin tone as the robber, and 1 While Caldwell did not have “dreads,” the officers were not concerned because the “dreads” had appeared to be a wig. Although Caldwell had tattoos, and the dispatch description said nothing about tattoos, the surveillance video and still images did show “shading” on the robber’s arms, albeit not clearly depicted tattoos. 6 Case: 18-13426 Date Filed: 06/24/2020 Page: 7 of 28 wore a similarly dark-colored t-shirt, although Caldwell was not wearing a wig or anything on his head. While Crist could point out similarities between Caldwell and the robber, Crist could not positively identify him as the robber at that time. Caldwell was 31 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and 160 pounds with a slightto-medium build. FBI Agent Winn immediately recognized Caldwell as the possible perpetrator of the Noa branch robbery two weeks prior. The FBI arrived and took custody of Caldwell. FBI agents sent evidence to the FBI lab for DNA testing, including the black bag and its contents (the bandana, wig, and handgun). The FBI retrieved DNA from Caldwell.