Of all the various theft-related criminal charges defined under Florida state law, robbery is perhaps the most strictly defined and severely punished of any of them. Unlike many other theft offenses, the financial value of property allegedly taken has no direct bearing on the severity of sanctions a person might face. That can make allegations along these lines uniquely difficult to contest in court, especially if this is not your first felony conviction.
Private legal representation should boost your chances of getting a positive result from a criminal case. Your dedicated Avalon Park robbery lawyer could exhaust every option and work every angle to resolve your case in the most favorable way possible.
According to Florida Statutes § 812.13, “robbery” entails committing theft in a way which involves the “use of force, violence, assault, or putting in fear.” Put another way, robbery occurs when someone else takes money or property belonging to someone else—either from within their private property or off their person directly—with intent to temporary or permanently deprive that person of the rightful use of their property. It specifically compels that person to give up their property by threatening or actually engaging in violent or aggressive conduct.
This is important to understand because any alleged act of robbery that does not meet all of the criteria listed above cannot be prosecuted as “robbery” under the aforementioned statute. For example, if someone takes property from someone else with intent to deprive that person of its use or function, they may still be charged with and convicted of larceny, but they could not be convicted of robbery if there was no actual or threatened violence involved in the act of taking.
This is something an Avalon Park robbery attorney could emphasize both in and out of court in the process of contesting robbery accusations and potentially getting the charges lowered to a lesser offense or dismissed altogether.
The severity of a robbery conviction in Florida varies depending on whether the defendant carried a firearm or another type of deadly or dangerous weapon on their person while committing the robbery. “Strong arm robbery” involving the use or threat of physical force alone to commit larceny without any weapon being present is a second-degree felony, which means a conviction could result in maximum sanctions of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Someone who carries a weapon of some kind while committing robbery, on the other hand, would have their charge upgraded to a first-degree felony, which means even a first-time offender could face up to 30 years of imprisonment alongside a $10,000 fine. Armed robbery with a firearm or other deadly weapon is also technically classified as a first-degree felony, but rather than a maximum 30-year prison term, a person convicted of this offense may face life imprisonment. Representation from a seasoned robbery defense lawyer is especially important when facing this charge in Avalon Park or anywhere else in Florida.
Robbery is always treated as a high-level felony in Florida and certain circumstances can even lead to a conviction being punished by life behind bars. Needless to say, facing this kind of allegation is too important to handle yourself or with an overworked public defender.
Seeking assistance from an Avalon Park robbery lawyer could make all the difference in what the rest of your life looks like. Call today for a consultation with a reliable defense attorney.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
