DENVER — If it’s not Steven Talley’s mole that proves his innocence it might be his height.
FOX31 Denver has closely followed the case of the 45-year-old Denver man accused of two bank robberies.
Prosecutors dismissed the first case from May 2014 after Talley produced an air-tight alibi proving he was at his workplace when the bank was robbed.
But the Denver District Attorney’s Office maintains Talley robbed the U.S. Bank at 2555 S. Colorado Blvd. in September 2014 based on FBI facial recognition technology that compares Talley’s face to the suspect seen in surveillance video.
But the suspect in the video doesn’t appear to have a mole on his right cheek like Talley does and even the bank teller, Bonita Shipp, has testified that Talley is the wrong guy.
Now FOX31 Denver has obtained an FBI document from the Digital Evidence Laboratory in Quantico, Va., that makes a height determination of the suspect in both robberies. FBI agents superimposed a height chart on the surveillance video from both robberies.
The analysis determined the suspect in the first bank robbery at 6333 E. Colfax Ave. stood 5-foot-11. The analysis from the second bank robbery suggest the suspect wearing a black baseball cap was about 6-foot.
At a court hearing Thursday morning, prosecutors asked a judge’s permission to measure Talley’s height.
An investigator for the Denver District Attorney’s Office used a yellow tape measure in a private room next to the courtroom and found Talley to be approximately 6-foot-3.
“I guess they hope I shrunk and lost weight,” joked Talley, who added he weighs 240 pounds, much heavier than the suspect estimated to weigh 175 pounds.
A spokeswoman with the Denver District Attorney’s office refused to discuss the height discrepancy, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss a pending case.
“I’m getting a little frustrated. Seems like they’re playing games to delay the inevitable,” said Talley who had hoped prosecutors would dismiss the case at the last hearing, let alone Thursday’s.
Talley is due back in court April 21 for a motions hearing.