United States v. Nelson
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
419 F.2d 1237 (1969)
Roy Arthur Nelson (defendant) was charged as a principal in a bank robbery alongside co-defendant Frank Brewton, who entered the bank while a second man waited in a getaway car; police chased and crashed the car after seeing Nelson jump from the driver's seat, and found cash in both men's pockets, though only Brewton's cash bore bank markings. Nelson argued the circumstantial evidence left open the possibility his presence at the crash was innocently explained, since nothing directly proved he drove the getaway car or knew the bank was being robbed.
Whether circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support a criminal conviction even if it is insufficient to exclude every possibility that the defendant is innocent.