Caroline County Robbery Lawyer
According to the Virginia code, a robbery in Caroline County is essentially a taking or an attempt of taking of money or property by threat, force or intimidation.
It is a very serious charge and should be treated as such by anyone who is charged. Because someone can get anywhere from five years in the state penitentiary all the way to life in jail, it is recommended they contact a knowledgeable theft lawyer immediately. A Caroline County robbery lawyer can clarify the charges being faced and help the individual prepare their defense.
Proving Robbery
For a person to be charged with a robbery in Caroline County, the prosecutor needs to simply show there is probable cause that the individual committed a taking or attempted taking money or property by threat, force, or intimidation.
- They must prove that the accused took or attempted to take the property in a robbery without a taking or an attempted taking. So the person has to have the intent to take following by the action or the attempt to take property or money, and money is property.
- In Caroline County, they must prove that the taking was done from or in the presence of another person and that is going to be key. A lot of individuals feel like if the property was not on somebody’s person, then they cannot be charged with robbery. However, if the property was on their person and there was a taking or an attempted taking, that can constitute a robbery.
- The taking must also be done against the will of the person, so they did not want the person to take the property. A person cannot be charged with robbery if the person has permission to take something and then lastly that the taking was done by the use of threat, force, or intimidation.
Intent and Force
As for an ultimate conviction, the Commonwealth of Caroline County has a lawful duty to prove each element of the robbery and the first element they must prove is that there was an intent to steal. An individual had an intent to steal, meaning take property that did not belong to them or the property of another and they knew that that property did not belong to them, they knew it was the property of somebody else. They have to prove the intent to steal in Caroline County.
If the property is near or in the presence of that person and there is a taking, that can constitute a robbery as well. Either a person threatened someone, scared them into giving up their property by force, a person forcibly yanked it from their hand, or took it from them or through intimidation by once again, scaring someone in either giving away their property or abandoning it so that a person can ultimately take it from them.
Severity of Robbery Charges
All through the state of Virginia, there is no such thing as a misdemeanor robbery charge. If a person is charged with a robbery or attempted robbery, then a person is looking at a felony offense. The only time in which they charge a person with a robbery as a misdemeanor is essentially a larceny from the person and that is a taking without a threat, force, or intimidation; that is just simply a larceny.
But if a person is charged with robbery in Caroline County, it is never a misdemeanor, it is always a felony and it always carries anywhere from five years to life in jail. When charged with a robbery, the harshest penalty is a lifetime in the penitentiary and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, making it imperative that a Caroline County robbery attorney is contacted immediately.
Hiring Caroline County Robbery Lawyers
The moment that someone is contacted by police officers and they have knowledge that they are being charged with a robbery offense, it is imperative to contact a Caroline County robbery lawyer in order to protect their own interest.
A lot of the times, officers and detectives in certain jurisdictions, Caroline County included, are not necessarily going to be equipped with all of the information in order go forward with certain charges, robbery being one of them. They will look to interview people and speak with them about their case to see if they can get as much evidence of robbery as they can to go forward with the charge against them.
Hiring a Caroline County robbery lawyer is going to be necessary to protect the person from saying something. Leading to their ultimate arrest, it is going to be necessary if the person is ultimately charged to get them out of jail and of course, keep the person from having a robbery conviction on their record. So the moment that a person finds out that they are being investigated for a robbery charge, it is imperative to contact a Caroline County robbery attorney in order to protect that person at that moment and in the future.
