United States v. Fulton

A large man, apparently wearing multiple layers of clothing, entered the North Randolph, Pennsylvania PNC Bank, carrying a gun. PNC employees handed him stacks of cash, containing a concealed Global Positioning System tracking device. The robber’s face was completely covered by a ski mask. The device led officers to discover fragments of the GPS in a backyard; they did not recover any fingerprints of evidentiary value. Fulton and Barnes lived separately in a house adjoining the yard. Barnes was unemployed, having been fired as a bank teller. Fulton first told police he had been at work at the time of the robbery. Fulton later admitted that he had lied. He had called in sick and spent day at home. At trial, his landlord’s son testified that Fulton was home and that the two had played video games. A search of Fulton’s residence did not uncover any evidence. Police eliminated Barnes as a suspect because they believed he was on the phone at the time of the robbery. The Third Circuit affirmed Fulton’s conviction for bank robbery. Although the district court improperly admitted certain testimony as lay witness testimony, the error was harmless. The prosecution neither presented improper expert testimony nor misrepresented the testimony of its expert during its closing. View "United States v. Fulton" on Justia Law