Robbery

In addition to common law robbery, North Carolina law contains the statutory offense of robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon. The use of of firearm or other dangerous weapon while committing a robbery greatly increases the severity of the crime and the punishment received. The armed robbery statute provides that a person commits robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon when he “unlawfully takes or attempts to take personal property from another or from any place of business, residence or banking institution or any other place where there is a person or persons in attendance, at any time” while he possesses or uses a firearm or other dangerous weapon and the life of the person is endangered or threatened.

To prove that a person committed armed robbery, the following elements must be shown:

A person who commits armed robbery is guilty of a Class D felony. A Class D felony is punishable by a sentence ranging from 38 to 160 months, depending on prior convictions. Anyone who has committed a Class D felony must be sentenced to active jail time.

The statutory crime of armed robbery includes not just the completed robbery but also an attempted robbery while using a firearm or other dangerous weapon. A person commits an attempted armed robbery when he “with the requisite intent to rob, does some overt act calculated and designed to bring about the robbery, thereby endangering or threatening the life of a person.”

To prove that a person committed an attempted armed robbery, the following elements must be shown:

A person who commits attempted armed robbery is punished just as if the robbery had been completed and is guilty of a Class D felony. A Class D felony is punishable by a sentence ranging from 38 to 160 months, depending on prior convictions. Anyone who has committed a Class D felony must be sentenced to active jail time.

North Carolina courts have defined the taking of property as the “severance of the goods from the possession of the owner.” For a person to sever goods from the possession of the owner, he must have the goods in his control “even if only for an instant.”

In both common law robbery and armed robbery, the defendant must carry away the property from the other person. Carrying away does not require a great movement and even the slightest movement is sufficient.

To commit either common law robbery or armed robbery, the defendant must have the intent to permanently deprive the other person of the property. An intent to temporarily deprive is not sufficient.

Mere possession of the firearm or dangerous weapon does not, by itself, constitute endangering or threatening the life of the victim. Typically, the defendant must display the firearm or other dangerous weapon in a manner which endangers or threatens the life of the victim. In addition, a defendant can threaten the use of a firearm in his possession without displaying it.

A dangerous weapon is a weapon which is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury. In many cases, the weapon qualifying as a dangerous weapon is one that we might commonly think of as dangerous, such as a knife. However, North Carolina courts have also held a lawn chair to be a dangerous weapon when the victim was knocked unconscious and suffered multiple facial fractures.

To commit the crime of attempted armed robbery, a defendant must do some overt act calculated to bring about the robbery. An overt act goes beyond mere preparation but falls short of the completed crime. It must “stand either as the first or some subsequent step in the direct movement towards the commission of the offense after the preparations are made.”