Court Opinion

ID: 2964966
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:33:36.825374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:00:42.694157
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

          No. 96-1273

                                    UNITED STATES,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                 THOMAS J. BARTELHO,

                                Defendant - Appellant.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                              FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

                     [Hon. D. Brock Hornby, U.S. District Judge]
                                            ___________________

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                          Selya and Boudin, Circuit Judges,
                                            ______________

                           and McAuliffe,* District Judge.
                                           ______________

                                _____________________

               Christopher  W. Dilworth, by  appointment of the  Court, for
               ________________________
          appellant.
               Margaret  D. McGaughey,  Assistant  United States  Attorney,
               ______________________
          with whom Jay  P. McCloskey, United States Attorney,  and Richard
                    _________________                               _______
          W. Murphy, Assistant  United States Attorney,  were on brief  for
          _________
          appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                  November 25, 1997
                                 ____________________

                              
          ____________________

          *  Of the District of New Hampshire, sitting by designation.

                    McAULIFFE,  District   Judge.    Thomas   Bartelho  was
                    McAULIFFE,  District   Judge.
                                ________________

          convicted  of three  counts  of armed  bank robbery  (18 U.S.C.A.

             2113(a) and  (d)), three counts of using  a firearm in a crime

          of  violence (18  U.S.C.A.    924(c)), and  one count  of robbery

          affecting  commerce (18  U.S.C.A.    1951).  On  appeal, Bartelho

          raises a number of evidentiary issues and challenges the district

          judge's denial  of his motion  to sever the charges  against him.

          For the reasons that follow, we affirm his conviction.

                                   I.  BACKGROUND1
                                   I.  BACKGROUND

                    Four  robberies occurred within four months in the same

          area  near the  Maine  coast.   The Fleet  Bank in  Westbrook was

          robbed on January 31,  1994, and on March 4 two  banks, the Casco

          Northern Bank  in Gray and the  Key Bank in Windham,  were robbed

          within twenty minutes of each other.   On May 5, a jewelry  store

          in South Portland was robbed.  The robberies were similar in that

          in  each, the  robbers were  masked,  brandished guns,  and drove

          stolen cars.  They netted  approximately $64,000 in cash from the

          banks and $109,000 worth of diamonds from the jewelry store.  The

          robbers  activities, guns,  and general appearance were  noted by

          bank  employees, customers, and  passersby, and were  recorded by

          bank surveillance cameras.

                    On July 2, 1994, the Windham (Maine)  police received a

          call reporting a  domestic disturbance in the  upstairs apartment
                              
          ____________________

          1  Bartelho  does not challenge the sufficiency  of the evidence.
          The  facts  are  presented  only  as  background  for  subsequent
          discussion  of  the issues  raised  on appeal,  without  favor to
          either party.   United  States v. Morla-Trinidad,  100 F.3d  1, 2
                          ______________    ______________
          (1st Cir. 1996).

                                         -2-

          of  a two-unit  residence.   The  caller lived  downstairs.   The

          upstairs  tenants  were  reported  to  be  Patricia  Harris,  her

          boyfriend, "Tommy," and her two young children.  The police found

          a loaded semiautomatic rifle on  the porch, and, when they called

          out for  "Tommy," Bartelho  emerged from hiding.   The  rifle was

          similar to one described by witnesses as having been used by  the

          bank robbers.  Bartelho was arrested, on assault charges, and was

          held in the Cumberland County jail until he made bail.  

                    Agents of  the Federal Bureau of  Investigation ("FBI")

          then sought and  obtained a warrant to  search Harris's apartment

          for  evidence connected to the January  and March bank robberies.

          During  their  search on  July  7,  agents  found a  quantity  of

          ammunition,  a stock  and case  for a  rifle, and  other evidence

          related to the bank robberies.   The downstairs neighbor gave the

          agents a .22 caliber revolver and ammunition that she said Harris

          had given to  her.  A complaint  charging Bartelho with the  bank

          robberies issued  on  July 8,  1994,  but on  October  12 it  was

          dismissed without prejudice on the government's motion.2

                    Bartelho was arrested  on other charges in  October and

          imprisoned  in Rhode  Island.   His  cellmate told  the FBI  that

          Bartelho bragged about his proficiency  with guns, as well as his

                              
          ____________________

          2   In a separate indictment,  Bartelho was charged  with being a
          felon  in possession of a firearm.   Before trial on that charge,
          Bartelho moved to suppress  evidence taken by the  Windham police
          in  the warrantless July 2  search, and by the  FBI in the July 7
          search.   The  district judge  denied his  motion.   Bartelho was
          convicted and on May 26, 1995, he  was sentenced to 120 months in
          prison.  His conviction was affirmed on appeal.  United States v.
                                                           _____________
          Bartelho, 71 F.3d 436 (1st Cir. 1995).
          ________

                                         -3-

          involvement in the  robberies.  Another inmate  who knew Bartelho

          at  the Windham (Maine) Correctional Facility, where Bartelho was

          imprisoned on gun  possession charges, told the FBI that Bartelho

          had admitted  his part in  the bank and jewelry  store robberies.

          William Yates,  who was in  prison with Bartelho at  the Kennebec

          (Maine) County Jail in March of 1995, also reported that Bartelho

          made statements about  his participation in the robberies.   And,

          one of  Bartelho's accomplices,  Gerald Van  Bever, who  had been

          arrested for his  part in the robberies, also  made statements to

          the FBI implicating Bartelho.

                    On  May 16,  1995,  a federal  grand  jury returned  an

          indictment against  Bartelho charging  him with  three counts  of

          bank robbery in violation of 18  U.S.C.A.   2113, three counts of

          using   firearms  during  crimes  of  violence  in  violation  of

          18 U.S.C.A.    924,  and  one count  of  unlawful  obstruction of

          interstate commerce by robbery in  violation of the Hobbs Act, 18

          U.S