Robbery – Elements – California Penal Code 211
Orange County Robbery Attorney
Robbery is a serious crime to be charged with. Below you will see the Robbery elements that the prosecution must prove to convict you and the specific jury instructions the jury will read in determining a verdict. If you are facing robbery charges, it is important to consult with an Orange County Robbery Attorney. Call the Law Offices of Nam Q. Doan | OC Legal Defense at (714) 248-3626 and I will fight for you. Visit www.OCLegalDefense.com for more information.
ELEMENTS
The defendant is charged with robbery [in violation of Penal Code section 211].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must prove that:
- The defendant took property that was not (his/her) own;
- The property was taken from another person’s possession and immediate presence;
- The property was taken against that person’s will;
- The defendant used force or fear to take the property or to prevent the person from resisting; AND
- When the defendant used force or fear to take the property, (he/she) intended (to deprive the owner of it permanently/ [or] to remove it from the owner’s possession for so extended a period of time that the owner would be deprived of a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the property).
The defendant’s intent to take the property must have been formed before or during the time (he/she) used force or fear. If the defendant did not form this required intent until after using the force or fear, then (he/she) did not commit robbery.
[A person takes something when he or she gains possession of it and moves it some distance. The distance moved may be short.]
[The property taken can be of any value, however slight.] [Two or more people may possess something at the same time.]
[A person does not have to actually hold or touch something to possess it. It is enough if the person has (control over it/ [or] the right to control it), either personally or through another person.]
[A (store/ [or] business) (employee/<insert description>) may be robbed if property of the (store/ [or] business) is taken, even though he or she does not own the property and was not, at that moment, in immediate physical control of the property. If the facts show that the (employee/<insert description>) was a representative of the owner of the property and the (employee/<insert description>) expressly or implicitly had authority over the property, then that (employee/ <insert description>) may be robbed if property of the (store/ [or] business) is taken by force or fear.]
[Fear, as used here, means fear of (injury to the person himself or herself[,]/ [or] injury to the person’s family or property[,]/ [or] immediate injury to someone else present during the incident or to that person’s property).]
[Property is within a person’s immediate presence if it is sufficiently within his or her physical control that he or she could keep possession of it if not prevented by force or fear.]
[An act is done against a person’s will if that person does not consent to the act. In order to consent, a person must act freely and voluntarily and know the nature of the act.]