Robbery

Introduction to Robbery

Robbery, in criminal law, felonious act consisting of the unlawful taking, by means of violence or intimidation, of property in the possession or in the immediate presence or control of another. Robbery differs from the crime of larceny in that the latter does not involve the use of force or fear of personal injury. Thus pickpocketing when not resisted is considered larceny; if however, resistance is offered and force is used by the pickpocket to retain the property, the act is considered robbery. To constitute robbery, the intimidation may consist of threats of violence either to the person from whom the property is taken or to a relative of that person. If the taking is accomplished without the use of force or intimidation and force or threats are used solely as a means of escape, the crime is not considered robbery. In common law, robbery was punishable by death. By statute both in England and in much of the United States, degrees of robbery have been established with varying penalties, the most severe of which is life imprisonment for first-degree robbery committed by an offender armed with a dangerous weapon. For robbery on the high seas, see Piracy.” (1)

A Daring Robbery: International Incident

In the book “International Incidents for Discussion in Conversation Classes”, in relation to this subject, L. Oppenheim wrote in 1909: On July 15th, 1907, the papers published the following:

“Last night the steamer Sophia was seized by armed robbers 16 miles from Odessa, while on a voyage from this port to Korthion. At 11 o’clock three young men appeared on the deck, where the captain and the passengers were at supper, and held them in check while two others seized the man at the wheel and ordered him, under threat of death, to set the ship’s course for Odessa. Some of the robbers, who appear to have numbered 18 in all, then went into the first-class saloon, where they took possession of an iron cash-box containing 50,000 roubles (£5,000), which was in charge of a cashier of the Russian Bank for Foreign Trade. They also took 1,000 roubles (£100) belonging to the passengers. The robbers then proceeded to disable the engines, and let off all the steam, and finally made their escape in two of the Sophia’s boats after destroying the third. The police are seeking to trace the band, but hitherto without success.”

Charges, Robbed, Hypocrite

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Charges, Robbed, Hypocrite (1): Charges that a person has robbed a church or has stolen from a church, are actionable.689 Also, charging a person with being a hypocrite and using the cloak of religion for unworthy purposes, is slanderous.690

Resources

Notes and References

1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

• Religion
• Church

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Robbery in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Robbery

The Legal History of Theft and Robbery

This section provides an overview of Theft and Robbery

Resources

See Also

• Legal Biography
• Legal Traditions
• Historical Laws
• History of Law

Further Reading

• Theft and Robbery in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Oxford University Press)
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History (Oxford University Press)
• Theft and Robbery in the Dictionary of Concepts in History, by Harry Ritter
• A Short History of Western Legal Theory, by John Kelly

Spanish Translation of robbery

This is the legal translation of English to Spanish in relation to robbery and / or a definition of this topic: Robo Con Violencia (in Spanish, without translation of the dictionary entry).