PART V. 
ROBBERY



 



§708-840  Robbery in the first degree.  (1) 
A person commits the offense of robbery in the first degree if, in the course
of committing theft or non-consensual taking of a motor vehicle:



(a) The person attempts to kill another or intentionally
or knowingly inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury upon
another;



(b) The person is armed with a dangerous instrument
and:



(i)  The person uses force against the person
of anyone present with intent to overcome that person's physical resistance or
physical power of resistance; or



(ii)  The person threatens the imminent use of
force against the person of anyone present with intent to compel acquiescence
to the taking of or escaping with the property;



(c) The person uses force against the person of
anyone present with the intent to overcome that person's physical resistance or
physical power of resistance during the time of a civil defense emergency
proclaimed by the governor pursuant to chapter 128, within the area covered by
the civil defense emergency or during the period of disaster relief under
chapter 127; or



(d) The person threatens the imminent use of force
against the person of anyone present with intent to compel acquiescence to the
taking of or escaping with the property during the time of a civil defense
emergency proclaimed by the governor pursuant to chapter 128, within the area
covered by the civil defense emergency or during the period of disaster relief
under chapter 127.



(2)  As used in this section, "dangerous
instrument" means any firearm, whether loaded or not, and whether operable
or not, or other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether
animate or inanimate, which in the manner it is used or threatened to be used
is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.



(3)  Robbery in the first degree is a class A
felony. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1983, c 68, §1; am L 1986, c 314, §68; gen
ch 1993; am L 1998, c 68, §1; am L 2006, c 116, §7 and c 230, §41]



 



Case Notes



 



  Act of violence or intimidation need not be done for very
purpose of taking the property to constitute robbery.  56 H. 343, 537 P.2d 724.



  In absence of evidence that gun was not loaded or capable of
being fired, an inference exists that it was capable of inflicting the harm
which the robber threatened and was a dangerous instrument within this
section.  57 H. 150, 552 P.2d 357.



  Whether instrument used in robbery is a dangerous instrument
is a question of fact for jury to resolve.  57 H. 365, 556 P.2d 569.



  Assault by person armed with dangerous instrument with intent
to rob is within subsection (1)(b)(i).  59 H. 148, 577 P.2d 793.



  Accomplice.  62 H. 25, 608 P.2d 855.



  Applicability of claim of right defense.  62 H. 25, 608 P.2d
855.



  An unloaded gun as a dangerous instrument.  63 H. 405, 629
P.2d 626.



  Threatened use of force against several persons did not
constitute more than one count of robbery.  65 H. 156, 648 P.2d 197; 4 H. App.
573, 670 P.2d 1290.



  Firearms are per se dangerous weapons.  69 H. 44, 731 P.2d
1261.



  Jury instruction should have stated that if jury found
defendant committed attempted murder and robbery concurrently, it need not
render two verdicts.  70 H. 618, 780 P.2d 1097.



  Defendant convicted of both kidnapping and robbery because
crimes did not occur concurrently.  71 H. 46, 781 P.2d 662.



  Trial judge erred in refusing to instruct jury regarding the
possible merger of the robbery and kidnapping counts against defendant.  77 H.
17, 881 P.2d 504.



  First degree burglary not an included offense of first degree
robbery.  81 H. 309, 916 P.2d 1210.



  Theft and attempted theft, regardless of degree, are included
offenses of first degree robbery.  81 H. 309, 916 P.2d 1210.



  A victim's awareness of the theft is a necessary element of
robbery pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(ii).  86 H. 37, 947 P.2d 349.



  Where defendant's conviction and sentence under this section
was an included offense under §134-6(a) and defendant's convictions under both
§134-4(a) and this section violated §701-109(1)(a), defendant's conviction and
sentence under this section reversed.  91 H. 33, 979 P.2d 1059.



  Where defendant's convictions were premised upon the use of
"any firearm" and language of indictments and trial court's
instructions "to wit, a semiautomatic pistol" did not alter the
statutory elements of §§134-6, 134-7, or this section, trial court's error of
not providing definition of "semiautomatic firearm" did not warrant
reversal of convictions of first degree robbery, carrying or use of firearm in
commission of separate felony, or felon in possession of firearm.  91 H. 33,
979 P.2d 1059.



  As subsection (1)(b)(i) does not require that a defendant use
force in order to compel another person to acquiesce in his or her taking of
property, it is not an element of the offense that the person against whom the
defendant is alleged to have used force, or the owner of the property, be aware
of the theft; thus, trial court did not err in failing to instruct the jury
that the "victim" of the theft--whether the person against whom force
was used or the owner of the property taken--must be aware of the theft.  99 H.
390, 56 P.3d 692.



  Whether a loaded pellet pistol is a dangerous instrument is a
question of fact.  1 H. App. 481, 620 P.2d 1087.



  Where defendant did not use force in the course of committing
theft, no first degree robbery committed within meaning of paragraph
(1)(b)(i).  9 H. App. 263, 833 P.2d 902.



  Instructions constituted plain error, where (1) court
instructed jury that a knife is a dangerous instrument; and (2) instruction
defined the imminent use of force.  9 H. App. 628, 859 P.2d 925.



  Where there was substantial evidence that the manner in which
the "little black stick" was used was capable of producing serious
bodily injury as defined under §707-700, minor was properly convicted as an
accomplice to robbery in the first degree under this section.  107 H. 439
(App.), 114 P.3d 945.



  As robbery in the first degree under subsection (1)(b)(ii)
does not include the element required under §708-810(1)(c) for burglary in the
first degree of intentionally entering or remaining unlawfully in a building,
it was possible for defendant to commit robbery in the first degree without
committing burglary in the first degree; thus the crimes are not included in
each other and do not merge.  109 H. 327 (App.), 126 P.3d 370.