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Key Facts
- State level: California defines robbery as taking personal property from another person’s possession or immediate presence, against that person’s will, by force or fear.
- State level: New York defines robbery as forcible stealing and grades the offense by circumstances stated in article 160.
- State level: Texas distinguishes robbery from aggravated robbery and expressly includes conduct during an attempt, the theft, or immediate flight.
- Federal level: Federal robbery statutes apply in defined settings, including robbery within special federal territorial jurisdiction and robbery involving covered financial institutions.
Robbery is not simply another name for theft. The statutes examined here add force, fear, bodily injury, or an immediate threat to conduct involving property. The exact elements and offense grade depend on the law charged.
How state statutes define robbery
California Penal Code section 211 defines robbery as the felonious taking of personal property in another person’s possession, from that person or immediate presence, against the person’s will, accomplished by force or fear. Section 212 defines fear to include fear of unlawful injury to the person or property of the person robbed, certain relatives or family members, or anyone present.
New York Penal Law section 160.00 uses the term forcible stealing. It requires use or threatened immediate use of physical force during a larceny to prevent or overcome resistance, retain property immediately after the taking, compel delivery, or compel conduct aiding the larceny. This is why larceny and robbery are related but not interchangeable under New York law.
Texas Penal Code section 29.02 applies when, in the course of committing theft and with intent to obtain or maintain control of property, a person causes bodily injury or intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death. Chapter 29 defines “in the course of committing theft” to include conduct during an attempt, the commission of theft, or immediate flight afterward.
Force, fear, and timing
A completed physical injury is not required under every robbery statute. California permits force or statutorily defined fear, New York permits use or threatened immediate use of force, and Texas permits bodily injury or the specified threat or fear. The precise words and timing matter because each legislature connects coercion to the taking in a different way.
New York expressly includes force used to retain property immediately after a taking. Texas expressly reaches conduct in immediate flight. These provisions show why the statutory time window can extend beyond the instant when property changes hands.
Degrees and aggravated robbery
New York grades robbery in three degrees. Third-degree robbery is forcible stealing; second-degree robbery adds circumstances including an actually present accomplice, specified physical injury, display of what appears to be a firearm, or a motor vehicle as the property; and first-degree robbery includes specified serious injury, deadly-weapon, dangerous-instrument, and firearm-display circumstances.
Texas section 29.03 defines aggravated robbery to include causing serious bodily injury, using or exhibiting a deadly weapon, or causing bodily injury to or threatening or placing in fear a person who is at least 65 years old or a disabled person as the statute defines that term. Texas classifies aggravated robbery as a first-degree felony.
California Penal Code section 212.5 classifies specified robberies involving inhabited locations, public-transport operators or passengers, and people using or immediately leaving an automated teller machine as first degree; other robberies are second degree. Section 213 sets separate punishment ranges: depending on the specified first-degree circumstance, three, six, or nine years or three, four, or six years, while second-degree robbery carries two, three, or five years.
These statutes illustrate why labels such as “first degree” and “aggravated” do not have one nationwide meaning. A general discussion of felony classifications cannot determine the grade or punishment authorized for a particular robbery charge.
When federal robbery law applies
Title 18 section 2111 applies to robbery within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. It requires taking or attempting to take something of value from another’s person or presence by force and violence or intimidation.
Title 18 section 2113 addresses robbery and related conduct involving banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations within the statute’s definitions. It separately addresses entry with specified intent, taking property, receipt or possession of property known to have been taken, aggravated conduct involving assault or jeopardizing life with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping or killing in committing or avoiding apprehension for the offense.
The presence of a federal statute does not make every robbery federal. Sections 2111 and 2113 apply only within the jurisdictional settings their text identifies.
Sources
- California Penal Code section 211
- California Penal Code section 212
- California Penal Code section 212.5
- California Penal Code section 213
- New York Penal Law section 160.00
- New York Penal Law section 160.10
- New York Penal Law section 160.15
- Texas Penal Code chapter 29
- 18 U.S.C. § 2111
- 18 U.S.C. § 2113
