GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The third time was the charm for prosecutors to get charges to stick against the suspect in a downtown bank robbery.
Jeffrey Morris allegedly robbed the Associated Bank in downtown Green Bay on July 28, leaving the scene with $2,500 after handing the teller a note which said “100s, 50s and 20s,” and then saying “I want it all. All of it,” to the teller. He was arrested a short time later, with the cash.
Originally, prosecutors charged Morris with one count of robbery of a financial institution. But a court commissioner dismissed the charge noting the statue defines the crime as “by use of force or threat of imminent force take from an individual or the presence of an individual money that is under the custody or control of a financial institution” but there were no allegations Morris used or threatened any force.
Prosecutors re-filed the same charge with the same information. A judge then signed an arrest warrant, prompting a second court appearance. A different court commissioner declined to address the challenge to the charge, deferring to the warrant signed by a judge. That sent the case to a judge for a hearing Thursday.
Shortly before the hearing, prosecutors filed an amended information, which included additional comments from the teller, noting he was trained to assume the suspect had a weapon. Also, the teller’s statement changed slightly, saying Morris said “I want it all now.”
Defense attorney John Herman said even with that additional statement, there was no threat.
“The state is here asking the court to look at case, read into what Mr. Morris was wearing, all these things to draw conclusions he acted forcefully when there’s nothing there in his actions, his words, his non-verbal actions, his non-verbal cues. There is nothing there to show he acted with force,” Herman said.
Assistant District Attorney Caleb Saunders said there’s a reasonable inference that there’s a threat based on what Morris did.
“From the state’s perspective, it is common sense. You walk into a bank, you hand a bank teller a note saying ‘give me all your money,’ and we’re supposed to, in some respects, just be totally oblivious to the notion of what’s going on here. That seems like common sense to the state. It’s not being hypertechnical. What other implication is there?,” Saunders said.
Judge John Zakowski ruled in favor of the state, allowing the charge to stand. He agreed with Herman there was no actual threat, although the use of the word “now” implies an immediate action and consequence.
“But it’s reasonable inferences. There doesn’t have to be threat. Look it. Somebody comes up to a counter, hands them a note that says ‘100s, 50s, and 20s.’ That is robbery lingo, isn’t it?” the judge said.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday morning. Although Morris has not been bound over for trial yet, the arraignment was tentatively scheduled for Aug. 24.
Morris, who said he was homeless, alternately told police he got the money to buy something to drink on his birthday, or to get a motel room for the night.
