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armed robbery

What Are Possible Defenses for Armed Robbery on Long Island?

You did not expect something like this to happen to you or your loved one. Maybe you received property, and you are now being accused of armed robbery. Perhaps a love done is calling you from jail to inform you about the armed robbery charges against them.

Armed robbery charges are pretty serious and can carry up to 25 years in prison if a gun is involved. Not only does this have the potential to take ways your freedom, but it can significantly affect your personal and professional life. No matter the circumstances, you should fight armed robbery charges in New York with the help of a Long Island criminal lawyer.

What Exactly Is Armed Robbery?

Armed robbery occurs when someone uses actual force, intimidation, or threats of using force to take property from someone else while using a deadly weapon. This deadly weapon could be a firearm, a knife, or any object that could cause serious harm. Similarly, using a realistic toy gun can still qualify a crime to be an armed robbery.

There’s a difference between armed robbery and strong-armed robbery. In a strong-armed robbery, the defendant can only have used a personal weapon like a foot, fist or non-deadly weapon like a rock, and not deadly weapons like a gun.

Intentional or unintentional errors can cause you to be charged with the more severe crime of armed robbery instead of strong-armed robbery. A Long Island armed robbery defense attorney can ensure you’re not wrongly charged by looking at the specifics of your case.

Why Should You Defend Yourself Aggressively Against Armed Robbery In New York?

Armed robbery is a violent felony. This means it will likely result in significant incarceration. What makes armed robbery a serious crime is that it often results in multiple charges like assault, weapons charges and even murder.

Such an offense has several aggravating factors which can quickly increase the punishment severity. It gets even worse if the defendant has a violent crime criminal history. This is more reason you should have a Long Island armed robbery defense attorney in your corner. Cases like bank robberies attract harsher punishment because these cases implicate federal law.

How Is Armed Robbery Proven?

The prosecution has the burden of proof in such a case. Some of the elements the courts weigh heavily include:

  • The identity of the suspect
  • Evidence such as photographs, fingerprints, surveillance footages
  • Proof of a deadly weapon possessed or used during the crime
  • Lawful searches and seizures of the evidence, weapon, and property taken during the robbery

The work of your armed robbery defense lawyer in New York is to challenge these elements and suppress any evidence. Depending on the circumstances of the case, your armed robbery attorney in Long Island will use various defense strategies to fight for your freedom and rights.

How Do I Fight Against Armed Robbery in Long Island?

The prosecution must prove that the defendant committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. An experienced criminal defense attorney will keenly look at your case details and develop ways to fight these charges. Some of the possible defenses against armed robbery in New York include:

Innocence/Mistaken Identity

Sometimes witnesses may make mistakes when asked to describe a perpetrator. In such scenarios, you just start by stating you were wrongly accused and provide evidence to support your innocence. You could do this by:

  • Providing alibi evidence showing you were not at the robbery scene
  • Challenging the veracity of a witness testimony
  • Showing that identifications like photo lineups and show ups were unreliable and prejudicial

Prosecutor Not Proving All Elements

You have a chance to challenge the specific elements of an armed robbery charge. If the charges are not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, you may be charged with a lesser offense or have the charges reduced.

No Gun Was Used

This defense will involve admitting guilt that you took someone else’s property and used force but did not use a gun or any other weapon. A lesser degree of robbery will be preferred in this case.

Forced to Commit the Crime/Duress

If you can show that a third party threatened to kill you or hurt you badly if you don’t commit the robbery for them, then you may have a complete strategy to fight your charges. This is common in gang-related setups. You will need an experienced and skilled defense lawyer for this strategy because it isn’t easy to convince the courts about being in duress.

Entrapment

Sometimes someone may want to entrap you to commit a crime and have you charged. If you can show that someone pushed you into committing the crime, you may have an entrapment defense. But if the defendant had already planned to commit the crime and the police provided the opportunity to do it, then the entrapment defense may not work.

Do I Need an Attorney for an Armed Robbery Charge in NY?

Armed robbery in New York is a serious criminal offense with harsh prison sentences and fines. Therefore, if you or a loved one is facing such charges in long island, you should not hesitate to contact an armed robbery defense attorney.

Your attorney will make you understand the potential outcomes of your case and your options. Your attorney will also represent you in court or negotiate on your behalf with the prosecution in the case of a plea deal. An attorney will also request alternative sentencing or request for reduced sentencing.

Fight for Your Freedom and Rights with The Help of a Professional

Violent crimes like armed robbery are serious crimes that could make someone spend years in prison away from loved ones and without their freedom. If you’re faced with this, know that there are several defenses you could use with the help of an attorney.

Our skilled armed robbery lawyer will help you explore all options for the best outcomes possible. Take action and fight these charges today. Start by getting in touch with us for a more detailed case evaluation.

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What is Considered Armed Robbery on Long Island?

Robbery is one of those crimes that you should take very seriously if you are charged with it. The crime suggests an element of violence and it is not taken lightly by the law. The consequences for being found guilty of committing a robbery are very severe.

But those consequences are made even worse when there is a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument involved. Just the presence of such a weapon or instrument can lead to more dire consequences should you be found guilty. In order to understand how armed robbery works on Long Island, we must first understand what defines and separates robbery from a crime like burglary.

What Separates Burglary from Robbery?

Robbery fits into a category of crimes alongside theft and burglary. Each of these crimes involves the taking of possessions or assets that belong to another individual without their permission. But there is a very important difference that separates robbery from the others.

Burglary defines itself based on the location of the crime in question. For a theft to be a burglary it requires that the individual committing the theft steals from a building or a home. It is important that they’re entry into the building is due to the intent to steal. It is not, however, important that they break and enter into the building. A burglary can occur even when an individual is invited in. But typically the consequences for a burglary are lesser if nobody was present in the building when the crime was committed.

A robbery, as defined under Penal Law Article 160, involves a face-to-face confrontation with the victim of the crime. To rob somebody is to take from them by force or fear. It can occur on their property but it doesn’t have to. A mugging in a dark alley is a form of robbery. If the mugger uses violence then it will be a robbery of the second or first degree, while a non-violent robbery will fall under robbery of the third degree. The level of injury a person sustains as a victim of a robbery goes a long way towards determining the severity of the crime and its subsequent consequences.

So robbery is a form of theft but one that requires there to be a confrontation and thereby a higher risk and occurrence of violence. But it gets worse when it becomes an armed robbery.

When is a Robbery Considered “Armed”?

For a robbery to be considered armed it must be committed with either a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument. Most people understand the first category pretty instinctually but the second is a bit of a head scratcher.

  • Deadly Weapon: A deadly weapon is pretty self-explanatory. Weapons such as knives, guns, blackjacks, brass knuckles or the like fall under deadly weapons. Even something like a BB gun could be considered a deadly weapon in the eyes of the law, though you might not consider it to be one yourself. A weapon may appear to be deadly but actually be proven to not be capable of causing serious harm, which is a popular defensive tactic when it comes to armed robbery cases.
  • Dangerous Instrument: A dangerous instrument is something that could cause death or serious physical injury but is not in-and-of-itself a weapon. While it is hard to see one used in a robbery, a car would be a pretty straight-forward example of a dangerous instrument. Somebody could purposefully hit somebody with a car with the intent of injuring them; it is not a weapon, really, but it is an extremely dangerous instrument which could do as much damage as a weapon if it is used with intent to harm. Even a brick or rock could be a dangerous instrument depending on how it is used.

What are the Consequences for Armed Robbery?

In most cases, armed robbery will fall under the dictates of robbery of the first degree. This is true even when the weapon is not seen, such as in People v. Toye, where the defendant was convicted of robbery of the first degree despite never showing a weapon. They told the victim that they had a gun in their pocket and the victim told the court that they did appear to have a gun-sized bulge in their pocket. Thus they were convinced that their life was in danger from a deadly weapon and the crime fell under robbery of the first degree.

As such, it is likely that an armed robbery conviction will be a robbery of the first degree conviction. This is the most serious form of robbery charge there is and as such it comes with the most severe consequences. The minimum time in prison for an armed robbery conviction is five years and the maximum is up to twenty-five years. When you consider that this charge could take away a quarter of your life, it is easy to see why you can’t take it lightly.

What Should I Do if I’m Charged with Armed Robbery?

A good attorney is a must when it comes to armed robbery charges. One of the best defenses there is against an armed robbery charge is to show that the defendant either wasn’t armed or that they were incapable of committing serious harm with their instrument. For example, an armed robbery with a gun might be argued down to a lesser charge by showing that the defendant’s gun was actually a prop or toy and thereby incapable of causing serious bodily harm to the victim.

A defense line like this is just one of the approaches that an attorney could take in defending you but it isn’t the only. But you require an attorney that has experience in defending people just like you if you want to get the best results. That is why Mirsky Law Firm invites you to call us at (516) 299-6187 to learn more about how we can help defend you in your armed robbery case.

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