Bailey v. United States
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
416 F.2d 1110 (1969)
John Bailey (defendant) stood near a meat wholesaler for most of an afternoon with another, unidentified man until a company employee left with a bag of cash; the other man then robbed the employee at gunpoint while Bailey stood about ten feet away, and both men ran off together when a bystander shouted that a robbery was happening. Bailey was charged with aiding and abetting the robbery, though the actual robber was never caught or identified. The trial court denied Bailey's motion for acquittal, and he was convicted and appealed.
Whether a defendant's mere presence near the scene of a robbery, some association with the unidentified perpetrator, and subsequent flight are sufficient, without more, to convict him of aiding and abetting the robbery.