Criminal Law

Robbery

Common Law

At common law, robbery is the:

  1. Trespassory
  2. Taking and
  3. Carrying away of the
  4. Personal property
  5. Of another
  6. From the presence of the other
  7. Accomplished by means of force or putting in fear
    • Snatching or taking by stealth is usually held to not be sufficient force to constitute robbery unless so attached as to require some force.
    • If resistance is given by the victim, then it constitutes force.
    • A threat must be of injury to a person, not the property.
  8. With intent to steal.
Model Penal Code
MPC § 222.1(1)
  1. Robbery Defined. A person is guilty of robbery if, in the course of committing a theft, he:
    1. inflicts serious bodily injury upon another; or
    2. threatens another with or purposely puts him in fear of immediate serious bodily injury; or
    3. commits or threatens immediately to commit any felony of the first or second degree.
      4. An act shall be deemed “in the course of committing a theft” if it occurs in an attempt to commit theft or in flight after the attempt or commission.