Brad Post

Michael D. Kenny, Attorney

Brad Post: Welcome to the floridadefense.com podcast. We are speaking to Tampa robbery charges defense lawyer Mike Kenny. And Mike we’re going to be going over, in the next series, just going over theft crimes. Correct?

Michael D. Kenny, Attorney: That's right.

B: You want to give us an overview of the theft crimes, and then we’ll dive into robbery.

M Sure. So there is, like you're mentioning it, you call them theft crimes, and these crimes we’re going to talk about all have to do with a taking of something from somebody else. Whether it's a permanent taking, or a temporary taking of some item. And depending on how the taking occurs, or where the taking comes from, kind of changes the severity of the crime and the name the crime.

A robbery, which is what we’re going to talk about today, is essentially taking something from another person, but there's an added set of elements, of using force to take that item, or the threat of force. The robbery statute in the state of Florida's is under statute section 812.13, and defines robbery. It says it means the taking of money or other property, which may be the subject of larceny, which basically means theft, from the person or custody of another, with the intent to either permanently or temporarily deprive the person, or the owner, of the money or other property, when in the course of the taking there is the use of force, violence, assault, or putting in fear. That’s the actual definition of robbery.

Robbery has different levels. The most basic type of robbery is a third-degree robbery, and that’s called a robbery by sudden snatching. And the name kind of implies that something is taken quickly from another individual. And the way that a person gets charged with a robbery by sudden snatching, the thing that I always kind of think about is a pickpocket. Pickpockets are kind of notorious. The people who are pickpockets are notorious for being a pretty good about sneaking up beside somebody and taking something. There is no threat of violence. There is no force used. There really is no action on the part of the person, other than taking the item from the person. But a robbery from sudden snatching comes up when in the course of that either by snatching a purse from somebody, or taking a wallet from somebody, the “victim” becomes aware some point during the taking that something's being taken from them.

So, let’s say a guy's a purse snatcher. Say he goes in and grabs the purse off of someone, and begins to walk away. If he doesn't use any force to remove that purse, but maybe unclips the purse, somehow takes it from a person. And that person, at some moment, becomes aware that “Oh, my gosh! Someone’s taken my purse!” At that moment, that transitions from theft to a robbery by sudden snatching. Because there's no violence used. There's no force used. The only thing that happens is the person who’s being victimized here realizes that he or she is the victim of a theft. And the legislature has decided that we’re going to punish those crimes a little more seriously. Because, obviously, once a victim realizes he's being robbed from, everything can potentially escalate to another level. So, that’s a robbery by sudden snatching. It is a third-degree felony. And it’s punishable by a maximum of five years in the Florida Department of Corrections. It doesn't score any type of mandatory prison sentencing, but you can get anywhere from probation to five years.

Now, the next level is the type of robbery that we hear about most often, is what's called a strong-arm robbery. That’s a second-degree felony. And, a strong-arm robbery is your basic definition of a robbery, as how most people commonly understand it. That is, the taking of an item from some person, by using force, or threat of force. This can come up, and the most common situation a person is what we use the term ‘mugged’. A person is confronted by another individual, and that individual demands money. He can either use force, and get into fight, and attack somebody and take that. And that’s a robbery by sudden snatching. Or, he can use a threat of force. Say, “I'm going to harm you if you don't give me this money!” That’s a second-degree felony. And that’s punishable by up to 15 years in prison. You can get anything from probation to 15 years in prison for that.

Then there is a next level from that, which things begin to change dramatically as far as the sentence. And that’s if the person is armed. If, in the course of committing the robbery, the offender carries a firearm, or other deadly weapon, then the robbery is a felony of the first degree, and is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding life. So, that’s a punishable by life crime.

So, if you take that same situation you look at the three different robberies we talked about: a guy runs up and snatches a purse off somebody, and that person doesn't become aware of until he’s running away. That could potentially be a robbery by sudden snatching. Then you graduate another level where a guy walks up to someone, and says, “Hey, listen! Give me your purse, or I’m going to hit you!” And the person gives the purse. That’s a second degree robbery. That’s known as a strong-arm robbery. Then, you get to this next level. A person points a firearm at someone and says, “Give me your purse!” That crime is now punishable by life in prison. The first one punishable by five years. The second one punishable by 15. And, obviously the third one punishable by life in prison. That doesn’t have to be a firearm. It could even be a knife. It could be a weapon of some sort. The firearm is still punishable by life, but it changes because there’s a 10/20/life statute in Florida. Anytime firearm is used in the commission of a felony there is a 10 year minimum mandatory prison sentence.

B: Mike, one thing that I like about talking to you, and we’ve talked about this in the previous podcast, is that you’ve worked on both sides of the courtroom.

M That’s right.

B: The plaintiff side, and also the defense side. Do you see very many of these being repeat offenders, very often? And, is there an additional charge, or imprisonment, on repeat offenders?

M: As a prosecutor, obviously I’ve seen pretty much every type of crime you can imagine. Everything from misdemeanor to a capital murder. But, as far as robberies are concerned, those are usually, in my experience as the prosecutor and as a defense lawyer, those are usually crimes of desperation. And, so you don't typically find that people do them regularly. Unless, we’re talking about a serial bank robber which we may have run into those a couple times. Usually, you don't find the same person having a history of committing robberies. What I can tell you is that there are specific penalties, and Florida's pretty tough for people who get convicted of serious crimes, and then when they come out they’re back in the system again. There's one specific, very simple enhancement called the prison releasee re-offender. And, a person who’s a prison releasee re-offender is anybody who gets sentenced to the Department of Corrections for anything. Say you go to prison for any type of charge whatsoever, but within three years of your release, you are convicted of committing a violent felony, basically a forcible felony, and that’s anything like a robbery, a burglary, an arson, any kind of specific crimes known as forcible felonies. But, these are specifically designated by statute. But, if you commit these violent felonies, or forcible felonies, you get the maximum sentence day for day, and the judge has no discretion. As long as the state has served notice that you qualify for prison releasee reoffender, you get the maximum sentence day for day. So a person who may have got a prison for something in the past, and ends up committing armed robbery, even if the judge wanted to, if you get convicted of an armed robbery, the judge has no discretion, but to give you life.

B: All right. We've got a few other topics that we’re going to discuss. So, join us on our next edition of floridadefense.com podcast. We’ve been speaking to Tampa robbery charges defense attorney Mike Kenny.