§ 2-11 Armed Robbery

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Criminal (SCBar) (2012 Ed.)

§ 2-11 Armed Robbery

The defendant is charged with armed robbery.

Section 16-11-330 of the South Carolina Code of Laws provides that armed robbery is defined as a robbery committed

while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon, or while alleging, either by action or words, he was armed while using a representation of a deadly weapon or any object which a person present during the commission of the robbery reasonably believed to be a deadly weapon... .

To convict the defendant of armed robbery, the State must prove the defendant:

(1) committed a robbery;

(2) while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon;

OR

(3) while alleging, either by action or words, he was armed while using a representation of a deadly weapon or any object which a person present during the commission of the robbery reasonably believed to be a deadly weapon.

Robbery is larceny from the person or immediate presence of another by violence, intimidation, or by putting such person in fear. A thing is in the presence of a person, in respect to robbery, which is so within his reach, inspection, observation or control, that he could, if not overcome by violence or prevented by fear, retain his possession of it. Robbery is basically larceny compounded or aggravated by intimidation or force used in the taking of property from the person or in the presence of another.

Larceny is the felonious taking and carrying away of the goods of another against the owner's will or without his consent with the intent to appropriate them to one's own use and to permanently deprive the owner of possession of his property. There are five elements the State must establish beyond a reasonable doubt to prove larceny. Each of these elements must be present to make out the crime of armed robbery. The elements of larceny are:

(1) a taking;
(2) the act of carrying the property away—this is called asportation in the law—asportation is the act of carrying away;
(3) of the personal property of another;
(4) without the consent or against the will of the owner; and
(5) with the intent to steal.

The asportation of stolen property is an indispensable element of larceny and can be established by the slightest removal of the property with felonious intent. The defendant must intend to permanently deprive the owner of possession by converting the property to his own use.

In addition to the elements of larceny, the crime of robbery requires two additional elements. These are:

(1) the property must be taken from the person or immediate presence of another;
AND
(2) the taking must be accomplished by violence, intimidation, or by putting the person in fear.

This violence must be actual personal violence or the threat of it. The degree of force used is immaterial so long as such force or threat of force is actually sufficient to overcome the victim's resistance. This violence or intimidation must either precede or be contemporaneous with the taking.

Finally, to constitute armed robbery, the State must show the additional element that the robbery was committed while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon, or while alleging, either by action or words, he was armed while using a representation of a deadly weapon or any object which a person present during the commission of the robbery reasonably believed to be a deadly weapon.

What is a deadly weapon? That is a factual matter that the jury must decide or determine. You must answer that question factually based on this evidentiary record before you. A deadly weapon is any article, instrument, or substance which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm. Whether an instrument or object has been used as a deadly weapon depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.

An instrument or object that is not normally considered a deadly weapon may, under some circumstances and conditions, be a deadly weapon because the instrument or object is used in such a fashion or in such a manner as to constitute a deadly weapon. A deadly weapon may include an ordinary object that is used to inflict serious bodily injury or death.

You may find the defendant guilty of armed robbery even if you find he used a weapon that was inoperable or was in fact a toy pistol provided: (1) the appearance of the pistol or weapon appeared real and operable to the victim at the time of the offense, and (2) that the victim was put in fear of bodily harm, or the threat of bodily harm was reasonably apparent to the victim. When a person perpetrates a robbery by brandishing an instrument which appears to be a deadly weapon, an implication may arise that the instrument is to be what his conduct represents it to be, a deadly weapon. If facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt sufficient to raise an inference that the defendant represented the object to be a deadly weapon to your satisfaction, this inference would be simply an evidentiary fact to be taken into consideration by you, along with other evidence in the case, and you may give it such weight as you determine it should receive.

NOTE: Section 16-11-330(B) of the South Carolina Code of Laws sets out the offense of attempted armed robbery: "A person who commits attempted robbery while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon, or while alleging, either by action or words, he was armed while using a representation of a deadly weapon or any object which a person present during the commission of the robbery reasonably believed to be a deadly weapon, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than twenty years."
State v. Keith, 283 S.C. 597, 598-99, 325 S.E.2d 325, 326 (1985) ("[W]hen a defendant commits robbery without a deadly weapon, but becomes armed with a deadly weapon before asportation of the victim's property, a conviction for armed robbery will stand.")' id. ("[T]he crime of robbery is not completed the moment the stolen property is in the possession of the robbers, but may be deemed to continue during their attempt to escape.").
State v. Mitchell, 382 S.C. 1, 4-5, 675 S.E.2d 435, 437 (2009) ("Armed robbery occurs when a person commits robbery while either armed with a deadly weapon or alleging to be armed by the representation of a deadly weapon. Included in armed robbery is the lesser included offense of robbery, which is defined as 'the felonious or unlawful taking of money, goods, or other personal property of any value from the person of another or in his presence by violence or by putting such person in fear.' Larceny, which is a lesser included offense in the crime of robbery, is defined as the felonious taking and carrying away of the goods of another against the

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