United States v. Carl Massey

LAY, Circuit Judge.

Carl Massey was convicted of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) and (d), receiving a sentence of 12 years. On appeal Massey challenges (1) the sufficiency of the evidence and (2) the prejudicial effect of testimony elicited by the trial court and the prosecutor’s closing argument, relating to the use of microscopic hair comparisons in terms of statistical probabilities. We find that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction but hold that there was prejudicial error in the overall reference to the defendant’s guilt in terms of mathematical…