Gravens v. State

836 N.E.2d 490 (2005)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D entered a Bank and walked up to teller Amber Whitman's window. D pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the top of the counter. On the top of the piece of paper was printed: 'Give me money from 2 TELLERS.' There was also writing on the bottom of the piece of paper that Whitman was unable to read. Whitman turned the piece of paper around and said to D, in a voice 'a little louder' than what she would normally use with a customer, 'I can't read this. Can you tell me what you want?' D became 'flustered' and held up two fingers. D then picked up the note, looked at it, mumbled some words, and finally walked out of the bank. D was charged with attempted robbery. D filed his Notice of Affirmative Defense, stating that one of his defenses at trial would be Abandonment. P objected to instructing the jury on the defense of abandonment. The court gave the jury P's proposed instruction on abandonment. The instruction stated that D's defense required proof that his abandonment was not in any way motivated by extrinsic factors. D was convicted and appealed.