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Building a Defense for Somerset Robbery Charges

There are a lot of different things that a defense attorney needs to do to defend against a robbery charge, and they need to be done simultaneously. A lawyer does not hold off on one potential defense; they must look at all of them at the same time to decide which defense is the most appropriate defense. It is the sort of case where an attorney should get started right away by looking at and analyzing a lot of different aspects of the case at the same time.

Analyzing Legal Statutes

One of the best ways to start preparing a defense against a robbery charge is to go directly to the statutes and start looking at the elements of the crime and determining if the state can prove every element of the offense. It is important to understand how the crime of robbery is defined and exactly what the elements are of the offense.

Then, looking at the state’s evidence, a lawyer can determine whether the state has evidence to prove every element of the offense. If the state does not, a great argument can be made that they cannot prove their case. They have to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. If one of those elements is missing, the state cannot prove their case.

There is always the issue of determining if there are other defenses available to be used. For example, if it is a case of mistaken identity and the defendant has an alibi, a person’s attorney needs to start hunting down the alibi and understanding who can testify as to the defendant’s whereabouts at the time of the crime.

Taking a Plea Deal

A lawyer should encourage a person charged with robbery to take a plea deal when the lawyer has analyzed all of the evidence and potential defenses, and has come to the conclusion that it is in the client’s best interest to take a plea. Deciding whether or not to take a plea is weighing all of the advantages and the disadvantages, and determining if the potential plea is going to be better than the potential outcome of the trial. It is a specific, unique analysis that can only be done on a case by case basis. It is difficult to make generalizations about something like this.

If a lawyer reviews all of the evidence and it seems like the state had all of their evidence and witnesses lined up, they were able to present all of their evidence, and they could prove each and every element of the charge, that would be the time to speak with the client and tell them that taking the plea deal would probably be more favorable than awaiting a verdict from trial.

Or, if there could be a conversation with the prosecutor as far as making a favorable sentencing recommendation if the person were to enter into a plea and that those where the times when you would not want to sit down with the client and have that sort of conversation.

Negotiating Down to Theft

An experienced and aggressive attorney may be able to negotiate a robbery charge down to the less serious theft charge if they can argue that the prosecutor does not have enough evidence to prove that property was taken by force or threat of force. That could be a negotiating tool to try in get a robbery plea down to a theft. There is a great deal of case law on the subject of force or threat of force that a defense attorney can use to argue to try and get a robbery plea down to a theft

There are other situations where the defense attorney might be able to negotiate down. For example, if the victim has issues of credibility, maybe the victim has changed in his or her record, that could be used in cross examination against the victim. That might be a great angle for the defense attorney to use to try to negotiate the robbery down to a theft. There could be a lot of different situations where a defense attorney can use something for negotiation purposes.

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