United States v. Rogers

James Rogers (defendant) asked a bank teller to cash a check worth $97.92, depositing $80 into an account and receiving the rest in cash; the inexperienced teller mistook the check's date for its amount, deducted only $80 and handed Rogers $1,126.59 in cash instead of the correct sum. Rogers took the money and left; he was charged under a bank-robbery statute codifying common-law larceny, and testified he only received the correct $17.93. The trial judge instructed the jury it could convict Rogers if he took the larger sum either intending to appropriate the overpayment at the time of receipt or forming that intent only afterward; Rogers was convicted and appealed, challenging both the sufficiency of the evidence and the jury instructions.