United States v. Burton

After Joshua Burton and his cousin Wilton attempted but failed to rob a bank, fleeing in a blue car that police later found abandoned nearby (matching co-defendant Quinton Carr's Pontiac, with its engine running), Carr reported the car stolen that evening; witness testimony established Carr's car had been parked at his apartment building until the robbery day, that Carr and Wilton left together that morning, that weeks earlier Carr and Wilton had discussed robbing a bank, and that Wilton later confirmed to a witness the Burtons used Carr's car to escape and that Carr planned to falsely report it stolen. Other testimony placed Carr driving Burton's Lexus both before and after the robbery, sometimes accompanied by Wilton; the jury convicted both Burton and Carr of attempted robbery and conspiracy, and Carr appealed, arguing the evidence showed only association and awareness, not actual conspiratorial participation.