Robbery Penalty Doesn't Matter On Amount of Money
Posted by Jason Chan on Mon, Apr 02, 2012 @ 02:46 PM
Robbery is one of the most serious offenses a person could face in Massachusetts. The potential penalties for a defendant being charged with robbery are very high. So what exactly is robbery and why are the penalties so serious? In order to be convicted of robbery the defendant needs to do several things. First, the defendant would need to use force to take an item from another person with the intent to deprive the victim of that item forever. (Picture of Robbery taken by Epeiclectic)
Because robbery requires the defendant to use some type of force to steal the item from the victim the penalties are very serious. The lawmakers wanted to make sure that the defendant would face serious penalties for using force against a victim. The amount of money that was taken or how much the item is worth is also irrelevant.
It doesn’t matter if the defendant is charged with robbery and grabbed the victim’s hand and ripped two dollars out of his hand verses a hundred dollars. The defendant faces the same potential penalties for taking a small amount of money verses a large amount of money. The reason once again comes down to the idea of force.
Finally, it should come as no surprise that a defendant being charged with armed robbery verses unarmed robbery will face harsher penalties. Either way, robbery is one of the most serious charges a person can face in Massachusetts and it is important to get legal help as soon as possible.
Find out more about armed and unarmed robbery