Building a Robbery Defense in Baltimore

Charges of robbery are considered more severe than charges of theft, and therefore building a strong defense is imperative for those charged. The additional element of the use of force or threat means that this offense can carry potentially more serious penalties including fines and incarceration.

With these factors in mind, an experienced Baltimore robbery attorney can help by building a strong defense and by understanding the ins and outs of the courthouses, courtrooms, prosecutors, and judges. While the laws are the same throughout each county, the procedure, protocol, and how prosecutors treat their cases will be different. In Baltimore, charges dealing with violence, drugs, or guns are treated differently than in rural counties. Rural counties, violence is not as pervasive as a problem, whereas, in Baltimore, violence is one of the biggest problems. It is therefore taken seriously and it is important people understand the ins and outs of a proper defense and only a local Baltimore attorney will best be able to convey that information.

Compiling Evidence

There is essential evidence to compile while building a defense for a robbery charge that is both inside and outside the case. Witness statements, video surveillance, documentation, medical records, if there are any, will be acquired. Sometimes the specifics of a case can have a profound influence on having a robbery reduced to basic theft.

Force does not mean significant force, and that is essential to prove a robbery charge. Force is considered contact that caused a reaction of some sort. Often, attorneys will explore the specifics of the case in order to find instances that show this difference while building their defense. Even if it is technically a robbery, only by gathering and exploring the evidence would an attorney uncover these significant differences.

Negotiating Charges

The consideration of force or threat of force is broad. It does not necessarily require somebody punching, shoving, kicking, or hitting. It could be just a slight reaction or the act of picking somebody else’s pocket. A pick-pocketing could be considered a robbery because the force of moving it and turning somebody’s hip.

When there are minor facts like this, often, prosecutors will be able to see these differences and could prosecute it as a theft charge. Alternatively, if the evidence seems questionable, if there are certain defenses that could be raised, or if the police overstep their boundaries, then there is no guarantee they will be winning that trial but a prosecutor might give a very generous plea offer and constitute a low-level misdemeanor theft charge, in exchange for a plea deal as they recognize the weaknesses in their case.

Plea Deal Considerations

Although the first and foremost approach is to try to defend the case and try to challenge the prosecutor’s allegations and the prosecutor’s case, often, the evidence is overwhelming. Sometimes, the person, before coming to an attorney, voluntarily gave a confession, or there could be video surveillance or multiple eyewitnesses.

In those scenarios, a plea deal can often be worked out because a plea deal will generally get a better result than if found guilty after a trial. The gamble of going to trial where the evidence is overwhelming is risky and they face far worse penalties than if an attorney were able to work out an appropriate plea deal based upon the charges, then they would encourage an individual to take it.