Joseph Daniel Walker v. United States

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

Joseph Daniel Walker appeals from a jury verdict in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, convicting him of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d). Because the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a pistol— found on the defendant at the time of his arrest but demonstrably unconnected with the crime — we must reverse and remand for a new trial.

On February 12, 1973, an individual wearing a hooded Army jacket, sunglasses, and a black wig, entered the Eastside Branch of the First National Bank of Fort Smith, Arkansas,…