Building a Defense For Robbery Charges in Spotsylvania County

Robbery and theft both involve the taking of goods. However, theft only involves the taking of goods while robbery involves the taking of goods in conjunction with force or threat of force.

Therefore, when building a defense for robbery charges in Spotsylvania County, the first thing an attorney will do is speak with their client in order to understand their perspective and to find out what evidence the prosecution may have. For instance, if an individual has confessed to the charges against him or her, it may very well be that the government can prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt.

In the absence of such a confession, a robbery attorney will then look for holes in the government’s case and find ways to begin to establish an appropriate strategy.

Reducing a Robbery to a Theft Charge

In Spotsylvania County, when building a defense for robbery charges, it is possible to negotiate them down to a theft charge.

For instance, such negotiations may be successful if the alleged force or threat of force was limited, if the person has a clean criminal record, or if there are certain extraneous circumstances about which the government did not know about at the time the charge was filed.

Robbery cases involve a significant amount of effort in regards to mitigating evidence, and for this reason, negotiations are sometimes possible.

Evidence Collected in Robbery Cases

Robbery cases can involve many different types of evidence. For example, if the individual who has been charged with the robbery states that he or she was not in the place of the robbery at the time, the lawyer will track down an alibi for the date and location.

In other instances, when charged with robbery, constructing a defense might require evidence that the alleged robbery was a misunderstanding. For example, video evidence may show the crime taking place and establish that there may exist reasonable doubt as to the identity of the person committing the crime.

Every case is different and every case contains different layers of proof that the government must establish in order to secure a conviction. Thus, the job of the defense is to locate and examine all available evidence.

Plea Bargaining

The ability to build a defense for robbery charges in Spotsylvania County may be too great of a challenge and other strategies must be considered. For example, if overwhelming evidence exists against the charged individual or he or she confessed to the crime in a setting considered valid under constitutional law, then taking a plea deal may be the best decision as all other alternatives may involve a trial by jury.

Under such circumstances, a jury will very likely sentence an individual more harshly than a judge would. Thus, if it is unlikely that the charged individual will succeed at trial, choosing to take the case to trial will almost always result in a worse outcome. In such circumstances, it is important to have an attorney, who is familiar with the construction of robbery charge defenses in Spotsylvania County, that can recognize such situations.

Contacting an Attorney

Due to the severity of possible consequences upon conviction, defending robbery charges require a significant amount of experience. When an individual is facing a charge as serious as robbery, experienced is the most important factor when choosing an attorney to build a defense.

In every criminal case, the prosecutors have an advantage because they know all of the evidence that they intend to present. Due to discovery rules in Virginia, the defense attorney has only a limited glimpse of the same. It is, therefore, paramount that any individual who has been charged with robbery hire an attorney who knows the kind of tricks that prosecutors can try to play. Such knowledge and experience helps to ensure the best defense of that individual’s rights in court.