Robbery
Robbery, in criminal law, felonious act consisting of the unlawful taking, by means of violence or intimidation, of property in the possession or in the immediate presence or control 22122m1213w of another. Robbery differs from the crime of larceny in that the latter does not involve the use of force or fear of personal injury. Thus pickpocketing when not resisted is considered larceny; if however, resistance is offered and force is used by the pickpocket to retain the property, the act is considered robbery. To constitute robbery, the intimidation may consist of threats of violence either to the person from whom the property is taken or to a relative of that person. If the taking is accomplished without the use of force or intimidation and force or threats are used solely as a means of escape, the crime is not considered robbery. In common law, robbery was punishable by death. By statute both in England and in much of the United States, degrees of robbery have been established with varying penalties, the most severe of which is life imprisonment for first-degree robbery committed by an offender armed with a dangerous weapon. For robbery on the high seas,
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