CL Ch. 26 Robbery Flashcards
Unarmed Robbery
Elements: (2)
ROA:
- Took money or property from victim or his immediate control
- By force or fear
ROA: Felony
- Suspect was armed with Dangerous Weapon when he
- Took money or property from victim or his immediate control
- By force or fear
ROA:
Armed Robbery
ROA: Felony
Note: wore disguise, mask, “features artificially distorted”= MM 5 years, subsequent =MM 10 years
Proper charge:
- purse snatching
- pickpocketing
- Robbery
- Larceny
Armed Robbery:
Is intent to use object as a weapon required?
No.
Ex. purse snatcher pushed woman down and stomped on her stomach with sneakers on= intent did not matter, because he DID use sneakers as a weapon to complete the theft.
Definition of Dangerous Weapon for Armed Robbery:
A dangerous weapon is an instrument that is or appears capable of causing serious bodily injury or death
Ex. deceptive weapon device (i.e. fake gun)
Robbery:
Do victims have to own the property taken?
No. - They must simply have a protective concern toward it
ex. customer assaulted while opposing theft from a store would be victim of robbery of the store’s property
For purposes of a robbery charge, may the suspect form the intent to steal during an attack?
Yes.
Proper Charge:
defendant took money from restaurant kitchen; employee interrupted his exit; at that point, defendant used force to escape.
Unarmed Robbery
May Robbery be completed without force?
Yes. - 2nd Method: Fear
If victim turns over property due to an assault, even if they claim they weren’t scared afterwards= sufficient.
Is the value of the stolen items relevant to the crime of robbery?
No.
An accomplice (blank) that the perpetrator is armed with a dangerous weapon in order to be convicted of armed robbery.
accomplice must know.
*Knowledge is often inferred if the robbery occurs in public under circumstances where the accomplice must have known that his partner would need a weapon to persuade the victim to surrender property quickly without resistance.
May the property taken in a robbery be the basis for a separate larceny charge?
No.
Since robbery requires proof that the perpetrator intended to steal, it is a defense if the offender honestly and reasonably believed that the money he took was owed to him. This legal principle, however, never excuses:
the use or threat of force.
Even though a jury might be persuaded to acquit a defendant of robbery, it must still convict him of crimes associated with any assault or use of a weapon.
Masked armed robbery: This aggravated crime does not require that the suspect conceal all his facial features. It is enough if:
recognition is deliberately obscured.
Dangerous Weapon for Armed Robbery: Claim of unseen weapon may be sufficient, a victim may take an offender at his word, and believe his claim that he possess a weapon, even though the victim never sees it.
On the other hand, however, a suspect may not be convicted if:
he could not possibly have had a weapon even though he claimed he did.
