The Current Statute on Robbery Essay
Elements of
The robbery was one of the crimes listed under English laws in the twelfth century during the reign of Henry II. Before this, robbery was considered a non-state crime that could be settled through settlements. However, the Crown made it a crime punishable by the state. According to Bassiouni (2013), the common law did not clearly define the principles of a robbery case. However, the fundamental principles existing then were that a given property had to be taken from its owner by use of excessive force. The victim had to prove that he or she was hurt in the process of robbery otherwise it would be considered a simple theft case. If it was proven in court that one engaged in a robbery, common law spelled death or mutilation as the most appropriate punishment for the offender.
According to Herring (2014), robbery soon became a capital felony in England and all its colonies in the 14thcentury. However, this changed in 1830s reforms when the robbery was dropped as one of the capital crimes. The a system that considered robbery as a felony that was punishable by death under common law (Woods, 2006). However, this was more of theoretical law than a practical one since no one was ever executed for robbery in the country until 1930. In 1930, many states in this country ratified the law to consider robbery a capital crime punishable by death. For instance, in the caseTison v. Arizona,481 U.S. 137 1987, the courts ruled that in the event that the victim is killed in the process either intentionally or accidentally, then the offender shall be sentenced to death (Woods, 2006).
Elements of
In order to understand the elements of the on robbery, it is important to look at how this crime is defined in our legal systems today. Monaghan (2012) defines robbery as a deliberate act of taking ones personal property in their presence with intent to steal, against his/her will by use of force, violence, threat, or intimidation. From this definition, several elements come out clearly. They include the following:
To take with intention of stealing
For one to prove before a court of law that an accused person was engaged in robbery, then it must be proven that property was taken with intention of stealing it. This means that the defendants main intention was to take the property belonging to someone else.
Personal belongings of another person
The second element is that the property that the defendant took must have belonged to another person.
Taken in their presence
Robbery involves taking the property of another person in their presence.
