California Penal Code 211 categorizes robbery as theft and describes the offense as using force to obtain another party’s property against their will. Robbery is a felony that attracts, at most, nine years of prison incarceration. Therefore, when you are on trial for this theft crime, do not hesitate to hire a criminal defense lawyer because a guilty verdict will alter your life. Only a skilled lawyer with knowledge of robbery defense can elevate your likelihood of a reasonable outcome. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we will explain the crime to you and craft proper defense strategies to contest the charges.

Robbery Definition

PC 211 prohibits individuals from illegally obtaining someone’s property directly from them or in their immediate presence. The description also includes property acquired from the owner without consent by physical force, threat, or use of weapons. Precisely, you violate PC 211 when:

  • You take a person’s property away from them.
  • The property in question is in the owner’s possession.
  • The item was in the owner’s immediate presence when you took it.
  • You utilized physical force.
  • You acted against the victim’s will.
  • Your intentions during the act were to permanently deprive the property owner of its use or enjoyment.

The main point here is that the property owner would have protected or retained it if it were not for your use of bodily force or a weapon.

When the police arrest you for this offense and present compelling evidence to the prosecutor, you will attract a direct felony charge whose punishment is harsh. Additionally, if aggravating circumstances or facts exist in your case, you risk penalty enhancement, leading to an extended stay in prison.

Robbery Elements

California robbery’s definition revolves around crucial elements. The district attorney (DA) must demonstrate all these aspects beyond moral certainty to secure a guilty verdict.

You Took Property

The first aspect of the theft offense that the DA must demonstrate is that you, the defendant, took away someone’s property. “Take” means bringing the item into your possession or control or moving it, notwithstanding the distance.

For example, Martin is taking a walk in the street, taking photos with his iPhone. John confronts Martin and threatens to harm him if he does not surrender the phone. Out of fear, Martin gives his iPhone to John.

John runs off with the phone, but after covering a few blocks, he realizes the iPhone is a counterfeit. He walks back towards Martin and throws the phone at him, saying he can keep it as it is counterfeit.

In this situation, John will be convicted of robbery even if he does not retain possession of the phone. John’s actions fit the definition of “take,” making him guilty.

The Property was in Another Individual’s Possession

Another aspect of the crime the DA must demonstrate to the jury is that when you took the valuables, it was in another party’s possession. “Possession” does not necessarily mean the possessor was holding or touching the item when you took it. It could be constructive, whereby the owner has control over it. Again, it is not a must for the victim to be the rightful property owner. Ownership is irrelevant to the case. What matters is that the victim had control of a property when you took it, whether actual or constructive.

The Property was in the Victim’s Immediate Presence

Similarly, the DA should prove that you took the valuables straight from the target or their immediate person or presence. “Immediate person or presence” means the property is within the alleged victim’s physical control and that they would have retained it were it not for the robbery.

You Lacked Consent From the Property Holder

The court will find you “not guilty” if you obtained permission or approval from the accuser to take their property. You only satisfy the definition of PC 211 when you take property without authorization or consent from the owner. The party giving the approval or permission must understand why they are doing so. If the party you stole from is a child or mentally incapacitated, they cannot consent. Also, one should provide authorization freely without coercion or intimidation. So, when you intimidate an individual using a weapon, and they flee, leaving you with their possessions, you have engaged in the robbery because you acquired the item without their permission or against their will.

You Used Physical Power or Fear

The other common element the DA should prove during prosecution is the application of violence or fear. This aspect is what distinguishes between robbery and other theft offenses. Force, or violence, refers to the use of physical power. Fear means making the victim worry that they, their immediate family, their property, or another party in the robbery are at risk of sustaining injuries. Even if you drug a victim before stealing from them, the court will deem your actions the application of fear or physical violence.

For example, you invite a friend for a coffee date. You slip a sedative into her coffee when she goes to the restroom. When she loses consciousness, you leave with the valuables in her handbag. If you are arrested and charged with robbery, the court will find you guilty because of the use of violence or fear, although in an unusual way.

However, it would help to know that the trivial or harmless contact that happens during pickpocketing does not amount to the use of violence or fear. Under the circumstances, the pickpocket will be convicted of a theft offense, not robbery.

You Planned on Depriving the Property Holder of Its Use Permanently

Lastly, it must be evident that your plan during the robbery was to permanently deny the victim their valuables. Even if the deprivation is not permanent, it should have been long enough that the holder would be deprived of its benefits or enjoyment.

You should know that the court is not interested in the worth of the stolen item. What is essential is that you plan to deny the owner its enjoyment or use permanently or for an extended period.

Furthermore, you risk multiple robbery charges when you rob numerous individuals in a single incident. However, stealing several items from one individual in a single robbery incident will attract one robbery count. The number of robbery counts you face depends on the number of victims, not the items stolen.

Robbery Penalties

Robbery is always filed as a felony, although it is categorized into first- and second-degrees depending on the circumstances. The classification significantly affects the penalties you will carry when found guilty.

Robbery in First Degree

For you to face 1st-degree robbery penalties, the following must exist in your case:

  • The person you robbed must be the driver or occupant in a car, taxi, bus, trackless trolley, cable vehicle, or other means of transport for hire.
  • The robbery ensued in an occupied or inhabited trailer, home, or boat.
  • The theft happened after the alleged victim withdrew cash from an ATM.

“Inhabited” means that someone occupies the boat or house and is present during the robbery or has temporarily left but plans on returning to the structure.

If the DA proves all the elements of 1st-degree robbery and the court finds you guilty, you risk:

  • No more than 36, 48, or 72 months of jail incarceration.
  • A financial court fine of, at most, $10,000.
  • You can also face both prison incarceration and monetary court fines payment.
  • Felony or formal probation.

When the court grants probation, you must comply with the terms imposed, like meeting your probation officer (PO) regularly or visiting their office frequently. Additionally, the court can order you to reimburse the victim for their losses or participate in community labor. You will pay the victim for property losses, and if they sustain injuries, you will reimburse them for medical expenses and lost wages.

If you violate these terms, the PO will report you to the judge, who will schedule a probation violation proceeding to allow your PO to explain how you breached the program. The judge can impose stricter terms, revoke probation, and send you back to prison to serve the initial sentence.

It is crucial to understand that when you commit robbery in an occupied building in concert or together with at least two people, you will attract a penalty enhancement. Your prison sentence in these situations increases to 36, 72, or 108 months.

Robbery in Second Degree

The court convicts you of 2nd-degree robbery if none of the aspects of 1st-degree robbery exist in your case. However, the offense is still a felony, whose punishment when convicted includes 24, 36, or 60 months of prison incarceration and financial court fines of no more than $10,000.

Penalty Enhancement for Robbery

When specific aggravating circumstances exist in your case, you risk a penalty enhancement for the crime. It means you will attract additional penalties on top of the initial ones imposed for the robbery conviction.

One of the aggravating circumstances whose existence in your case can result in sentence enhancement is causing substantial bodily injury to the robbery victim. If the victim suffers significant harm, the court will impose an additional and successive 36 to 72 months of imprisonment on your PEN 211 violation sentence.

Similarly, when you use a firearm to accomplish a robbery, you will receive a penalty enhancement in line with PEN 12022.43. The statute imposes a more prolonged incarceration duration for individuals who use a firearm during robberies. Remarkably, the court will impose additional and sequential 120 months of prison incarceration if you individually used the gun, twenty years of further incarceration if you individually and deliberately used a firearm in a robbery, and 24 years to life imprisonment if someone sustained substantial bodily harm or died during the robbery involving a gun.

Felony Strike

PEN 211 classifies robbery as a violent felony, making it a strike offense. A subsequent sentence for a felony offense doubles the typical penalties for the felony crime.

And when you accumulate two felony convictions, and the third one is for a robbery offense, you risk twenty-five years-to-life incarceration.

Contesting Robbery Counts

At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we can utilize several defense strategies to contest the count of robbery and obtain a dismissal, acquittal, charge reduction, or sentence reduction. The defenses include:

  • Your Actions Did Not Involve Violence or Fear

The element that differentiates robbery from other theft offenses is the use of physical power or fear. The DA must demonstrate that you obtained the victim’s property through violence or intimidation. If they cannot show this element exists in your case beyond a reasonable doubt, they should not accuse you of robbery because the charge will not stand in court. However, you can still be found guilty of a lesser theft crime with more lenient penalties and less stigma.

Showing that an offense was committed is insufficient to prove the critical element of using physical power or fear. When the victim saw you take or try to take their property and was intimidated to the extent they handed it over without you inducing any fear or carrying the item by force, you are not guilty of robbery.

  • You Had Claim of Right to the Item or Property

Your defense lawyer can contest the robbery counts by arguing that you possessed a right of claim over the goods. You can rob someone of an item in their possession with the knowledge that it is rightfully yours. All your lawyer needs to demonstrate is that you reasonably believed the assets you were taking were yours, notwithstanding whether the item was yours or whether you only genuinely thought you had a claim of right over it.

For example, James and Carol are a couple going through a marriage dissolution. James does not live in their marital home with the soon-to-be ex-spouse but occasionally visits to check on her and the children. One day, while visiting the house, James gives Carol $500 to settle some bills.

Then James’ mother-in-law walks in, and they begin an argument upon finding him in the daughter’s house. During the heated confrontation, James discovers that the wife was asking for the $500 not to pay bills but to give it to her mother, with whom they are sworn enemies. James demands the cash back, but the wife refuses and places it in her pocket.

James wrestles Carol to the floor and removes the money from her pocket. Under this situation, even if James is apprehended for robbery, he will be innocent despite using violence or fear to acquire the funds because he genuinely believed the money was his and was entitled to recover it.

Nevertheless, you risk robbery charges and a possible conviction when you rob someone of their property or money using violence or fear to settle a debt they owe you.

  • A Witness Mistakenly Identified You During Investigations

Most robbery perpetrators rob people at night or when wearing masks. So, it becomes challenging for the victims to identify those they believe committed the crime. However, they still try to identify the perpetrators using their height, clothes, weight, or other insubstantial evidence. Also, the tension and confusion after one has been robbed can lead to one identifying the wrong perpetrator.

A profound lawyer will scrutinize the DA’s evidence to identify circumstantial proof that they are less likely to prove beyond a reasonable certainty. The defense attorney will then point out flaws in the discovery and remind the jury that you can only be found guilty if the evidence presented by the district attorney conclusively shows that you are the person who committed the crime. If there is the slightest doubt that you are not the party that committed the offense, the lawyer will assert that you did not commit the crime and, therefore, should not be charged.

  • False Allegations

Your lawyer can also assert that the accusations against you are false and that you are not the perpetrator of the robbery. False allegations in robbery cases are prevalent. There are several reasons someone can falsely blame you for a crime you did not commit. It could be the perpetrator attempting to cover their guilt or an angry, jealous, or vengeful spouse trying to influence a child custody or divorce case.

Many defendants end up wrongfully convicted for offenses they did not commit. Therefore, you need a proper defense to prove the allegations are untrue. A reputable defense attorney will investigate the robbery independently to uncover the case’s facts.

Related Crimes

Robbery is commonly charged alongside or in place of other theft offenses. These crimes are:

California Carjacking

PEN 215 makes taking a person’s vehicle from their direct or immediate presence illegal through physical power or fear.

A PC 215 violation is indistinguishable from robbery, except you cannot be sentenced to the two crimes simultaneously. You can only be guilty of one of the two offenses.

Like robbery, a PC 215 violation is a felony whose conviction attracts 36, 60, or 108 months of prison incarceration.

California Theft

The other offense related to robbery is theft, the illegal taking of someone’s property without violence or fear. The kind of theft charge you face hinges on the worth of the stolen item.

You will attract charges under PC 487, grand theft, when you take property valued at more than $950. Also, you face these charges when you steal a vehicle or gun directly from someone. All other thefts involving property worth less than $950 are defined as petty theft under PC 488. You will likely be charged with the offenses if you commit shoplifting or pickpocketing.

The prosecutor treats petty theft as a misdemeanor whose sentence carries at most half a year in jail.

On the other hand, a PC 487 violation is chargeable as a wobbler, and the DA uses their discretion to charge you with either a felony or misdemeanor. As a felony, grand theft, when you are found guilty, carries sixteen, twenty-four, or thirty-six months of jail incarceration, which is considerably lower than the possible sentence for a robbery.

Therefore, when you face a robbery charge, your lawyer can negotiate to reduce it to a petty or grand theft with lesser penalties.

California Kidnapping

According to PC 207, using violence or threats to move an individual a substantial distance is unlawful.

If you moved the victim of your robbery for some distance, however short, you risk robbery and kidnapping charges simultaneously.

Kidnapping an individual with the intent to commit robbery is harshly punished. You risk life imprisonment with parole.

And even when convicted for the typical kidnapping, the punishment is severe because it includes 36, 60, or 96 months of imprisonment.

California Extortion

As per PEN 518, extortion offenses happen when you use physical force or intimidation to compel someone to hand over their money or valuable item.

A PC 518 violation differs from robbery in that the person being robbed does not agree to surrender their property or cash. However, in extortion, the victim agrees to give out their money or property because of violence or threats. Fear or physical force in PC 518 means threatening to injure a party or to falsely accuse them of an offense, expose their secret, or report them to the immigration department.

The DA files extortion as a felony. A guilty verdict for the crime attracts a 24-, 36-, or 48-month prison sentence.

California Burglary

Burglary, per PEN 459, is the illegal entry into a person’s house or locked car with the intention of committing a felony like robbery when inside.

A PC 459 violation and robbery are typically charged together because a robbery inside a house involves burglary. Nevertheless, a PEN 459 violation does not include the use of threats or physical force.

A felony burglary attracts a 24 to 72-month prison sentence.

Find a Skilled Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me 

A sentence for robbery can have life-altering consequences for you and your family. Therefore, do not try to represent yourself in court because you will lower your chances of a favorable outcome. You need a skilled lawyer to offer guidance and represent you in court. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we are familiar with the harsh penalties of a robbery conviction, so we will fight hard for a favorable outcome. Call us today at 559-712-8377 to schedule an appointment.