Thank you for asking me “Are there any Defenses to Robbery in FL?”
Robbery is a specific intent crime. The State is required to prove that you took something with the requisite intent to steal it and that you did so by way of using force or intimidation.
That said there are standard pretrial and trial defenses that can be raised in any criminal case, but there are some more customized defenses that may be applicable to a robbery charge.
If your taking of property occurred as an “after thought” to the use of force or violence, then you may not have committed a robbery (not the base 2nd degree felony level offense anyhow… you may have committed a snatch and grab robbery, but that is less serious than any other form of robbery).
An example of the “afterthought defense” might be where two people got into a fist fight, one of them gets KO’d and while he’s out the other person grabs a watch or chain.
In this example it would not be a robbery to take the unconscious person’s watch because the taking was not preplanned and was merely an afterthought which occurred after the fight had concluded.
It is also a defense to a robbery charge if the taker has a good faith belief that he is either the owner of the property or that he is otherwise entitled to immediate possession of the property.
This is called a “bona fide claim of right”, and if it exists then it would negate element #4 or robbery (i.e. that the property was that of another).
At Michael A. Haber, PA “it’s all about reasonable doubt”!
Please note that no attorney-client relationship with either Michael A. Haber, PA or Michael A. Haber, Esq. exists as a result of your watching this Webisode series. Further any and all information which is both contained in and may be construed from this Webisode series is generic in nature and should only be considered as informational and not as actual legal advise in any specific case. Should you wish to seek actual legal advise then please feel free to contact Michael A. Haber, Esq. as follows:
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