Opinion
No. 2011AP1960–CR.
2014-07-29
STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. Michael Gregory SCOTT, Defendant–Appellant.
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee County: Richard J. Sankovitz, Judge. Affirmed.
Before CURLEY, P.J., FINE and BRENNAN, JJ. ¶ 1 PER CURIAM.
Michael Gregory Scott appeals from a judgment of conviction, entered upon a jury's verdict, on one count of robbery with the threat of force. Scott argues there was insufficient evidence to show he acted forcibly, one of the four elements of his offense. We disagree and affirm the judgment.
¶ 9 “The threat of force element does not require express threats of bodily harm.” State v. Johnson, 231 Wis.2d 58, 69, 604 N.W.2d 902 (Ct.App.1999). “It is met ‘if the taking of the property [is] attended with such circumstances of terror, or such threatening by menace, word, or gesture as in common experience is likely to create an apprehension of danger and induce a [person] to part with property for [his or her] safety.’ ” Id. (brackets in Johnson; citation omitted).
¶ 10 Here, it is true that there was no evidence adduced at trial of any explicit verbal threats or overtly threatening actions by Scott. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that Scott's words and gestures, as testified to by the teller, were meant to create an impression that he was threatening to use force, if necessary, to obtain money from the teller.
¶ 11 Scott approached the teller with a pretense of closing an account. He had taken steps—by donning the gloves, sunglasses, and hat—to conceal his identity. His note instructed the teller not to include any dye packs with the money—an instruction from which, we think, the threat of a forceful and immediate consequence for disobedience can reasonably be inferred. Finally, the note itself informed the teller that the event was a robbery, a word that really only serves one purpose in that context: to frighten the victim into submission and compliance. Accordingly, there was sufficient evidence presented from which a jury could draw the appropriate inferences necessary to convict Scott for robbery with the threat of force.
Judgment affirmed.
This opinion shall not be published. See Wis. Stat. RuleE 809.23(1)(b)5. (2011–12).