What Defines Robbery?

Under Common Law, robbery is defined with the same elements as larceny but coupled with assault and battery; therefore, the taking of an individual’s property must be coupled with force or the threat of imminent harm. Robbery is a serious Felony, which carries the threat of imprisonment if a person is found guilty. Usually when an individual is charged with Robbery, additional charges may be added when the crime is coupled with the use of a firearm, weapon, or someone is seriously injured. If you or someone you love is charged with Robbery, they require extensive legal assistance.

North Carolina punishes two robberies, and the statute chooses between them

In North Carolina the General Statutes do not define robbery; they grade it. G.S. 14-87.1 provides that “Robbery as defined at common law, other than robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon as defined by G.S. 14-87, shall be punishable as a Class G felony.” The elements are left to the common law: a taking of personal property from the person or presence of another, without consent, by violence or by putting that person in fear, with the intent to deprive permanently.

G.S. 14-87 covers the armed form. It reaches any person who, “having in possession or with the use or threatened use of any firearms or other dangerous weapon, implement or means, whereby the life of a person is endangered or threatened,” unlawfully takes or attempts to take personal property from another, or from any place of business, residence or banking institution, or any place where persons are, and it makes that a Class D felony. Aiding and abetting is written into the section itself.

That is the whole architecture. Everything else in a North Carolina robbery case — the charge selection, the plea discussions, the sentencing exposure — is worked out between those two provisions.

The dangerous weapon element does more work than the word suggests

G.S. 14-87 does not turn only on whether a weapon existed. The statutory language ties the weapon to a consequence: the possession, use or threatened use must be such that “the life of a person is endangered or threatened.” A weapon that could not have endangered life on the facts alleged does not satisfy the section, which is why the operability and the nature of the object are litigated.

The section is also not confined to firearms. Its language reaches “any firearms or other dangerous weapon, implement or means,” so an object that is not a weapon at all can fall inside it depending on how it was used. Conversely, a taking accomplished by force but without any such implement falls under G.S. 14-87.1 as common law robbery.

Where there was no force at all — a pocket picked, a phone taken from a hand without resistance — North Carolina charges larceny from the person under G.S. 14-72(b)(1). That is a felony without regard to value, and G.S. 14-72(a) grades it as a Class H felony, the same conclusion the default in G.S. 14-70 reaches. The distinction between that offense and common law robbery is the presence of violence or fear at the time of the taking.

Timing separates robbery from larceny followed by an assault

In North Carolina the violence or intimidation must be connected to the taking. Force used to obtain the property, or to overcome resistance at the moment of the taking, is robbery. Force used purely after a completed larceny, for a reason unconnected to the taking, is a separate assault charged separately.

That sequencing question is often the whole of the defense in a shoplifting case that has been charged upward. A struggle at the door of a shop after goods have already been concealed and carried away does not automatically make the episode a robbery, and the difference between a Class 1 misdemeanor under G.S. 14-72(a) and a Class G felony under G.S. 14-87.1 can rest entirely on the order in which events occurred on a recording.

Attempted armed robbery is punished within the completed offense

North Carolina grades attempts generally under G.S. 14-2.5, which provides that “unless a different classification is expressly stated, an attempt to commit a misdemeanor or a felony is punishable under the next lower classification as the offense which the offender attempted to commit.” Robbery with a dangerous weapon is one of the places where a different classification is expressly stated.

G.S. 14-87 itself reaches a person who “takes or attempts to take” the property, and G.S. 14-87(a1) provides that “Attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon shall constitute a lesser included offense of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and evidence sufficient to prove robbery with a dangerous weapon shall be sufficient to support a conviction of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon.” The practical result is that the attempt is not dropped a class; it remains within the Class D section.

Common law robbery works the other way. Because G.S. 14-87.1 states no separate attempt classification, an attempted common law robbery is graded one class below Class G under G.S. 14-2.5. Conspiracy is graded the same way under G.S. 14-2.4, one class below the offense conspired at, again unless a different classification is expressly stated.

Class D and Class G sentencing under structured sentencing

North Carolina sentences robbery under structured sentencing. G.S. 15A-1340.13 requires the court to determine the prior record level and to impose a sentence containing a disposition specified for that class and record level, together with a minimum term and the maximum term the statute pairs with it. G.S. 15A-1340.17 sets out the chart of permissible minimum durations and the tables that convert each minimum into its corresponding maximum.

The chart, not the judge’s general view of the case, determines whether a community, intermediate or active punishment is authorized for a given cell. For the higher felony classes the chart narrows the options sharply, and for a Class D felony the range of authorized dispositions is considerably more restrictive than for the Class G and Class H offenses that surround larceny.

Aggravating and mitigating factors operate inside those ranges rather than outside them. They can move a sentence between the presumptive, mitigated and aggravated ranges for the applicable cell, but they cannot move a case into a cell the chart does not permit.

Additional counts commonly appear on the same indictment

A robbery allegation in North Carolina rarely stands alone on the bill. Conspiracy is charged under G.S. 14-2.4 where an agreement is alleged, and separate assault, firearm and restraint offenses are frequently added where the facts alleged support them. Each additional count carries its own class and its own sentence, and consecutive sentencing is available.

Prior felony convictions can also change the class of the principal offense. Under G.S. 14-7.1 a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to three felony offenses is declared a habitual felon, but only where the second offense was committed after conviction or plea for the first and the third after conviction or plea for the second, and felonies committed before the age of 18 count as no more than one felony. Where a person is indicted and convicted as a habitual felon, G.S. 14-7.6 requires sentencing “at a felony class level that is four classes higher than the principal felony for which the person was convicted,” with no sentence above Class C. Applied to a Class G common law robbery, that status alters the sentencing exposure more than any fact about the robbery itself.

The class of a robbery charge closes two statutory doors

Because both robbery offenses sit above Class H, two mechanisms that are routinely discussed in theft cases are unavailable on their face. G.S. 15A-1341(a1) permits deferred prosecution only for “a person who has been charged with a Class H or I felony or a misdemeanor,” and G.S. 15A-1341(a4) permits a conditional discharge only where a person pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a Class H or I felony or a misdemeanor. Common law robbery is a Class G felony and robbery with a dangerous weapon is a Class D felony, so neither section reaches either offense as charged.

That does not mean the class of the charge is fixed for all time. Charge negotiation, the sufficiency of the evidence on the dangerous weapon element, and the lesser included offenses available on the facts alleged all bear on what offense a case ends at, and those questions are answered on the evidence rather than on the caption of the warrant.

A robbery conviction is outside the expunction statute for nonviolent felonies

In North Carolina, G.S. 15A-145.5 allows a petition to expunge a “nonviolent felony,” but the definition in subsection (a) excludes Class A through G felonies and Class A1 misdemeanors, excludes any offense that includes assault as an essential element, and excludes several further categories set out in the same subsection. Common law robbery is a Class G felony under G.S. 14-87.1 and robbery with a dangerous weapon is a Class D felony under G.S. 14-87, so neither is a nonviolent felony within the meaning of that section.

The position is different where a charge does not end in a conviction. Under G.S. 15A-146(a4) the charges in a case are expunged by operation of law where all charges in the case were disposed of on or after 1 December 2021 and all were dismissed without leave, dismissed by the court, or resulted in a finding of not guilty or not responsible. That subsection carves out a case with a felony charge dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement, which will not be expunged under it.

Where a Charlotte robbery case is heard

Robbery is a felony in every form, so a Charlotte case is a Mecklenburg County Superior Court matter. G.S. 7A-272(a) confines the district court to criminal actions “below the grade of felony,” and the narrow felony plea provision in G.S. 7A-272(c) reaches only Class H and Class I felonies — which excludes both robbery offenses.

A robbery prosecution therefore proceeds by indictment returned by the Mecklenburg County grand jury, or on a bill of information where the defendant waives indictment through counsel. First appearances, pretrial release conditions and probable cause hearings take place in the district court before the case is transferred, which is why the early district court dates matter in a case that will ultimately be tried elsewhere.

Common questions

What is the difference between common law robbery and armed robbery in North Carolina?

The weapon and the danger to life. G.S. 14-87.1 makes robbery as defined at common law a Class G felony. G.S. 14-87 makes robbery a Class D felony where it is committed with the possession, use or threatened use of any firearms or other dangerous weapon, implement or means, whereby the life of a person is endangered or threatened. The elements of the taking are otherwise the same, so the weapon element usually decides which section is charged.

Is attempted robbery a lesser charge in North Carolina?

Not for armed robbery. G.S. 14-87 covers a person who takes or attempts to take property, and G.S. 14-87(a1) makes attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon a lesser included offense of the completed offense, so it stays within the Class D section. For common law robbery, no separate attempt classification is stated, so G.S. 14-2.5 applies and the attempt is graded one class lower than the completed Class G offense.

When does a theft become robbery in North Carolina?

When violence or the putting of a person in fear is connected to the taking. Force used to obtain the property or to overcome resistance at the moment of the taking makes the offense robbery. A taking from a person without any force is charged as larceny from the person under G.S. 14-72(b)(1), which is a felony without regard to value and is graded as a Class H felony by G.S. 14-72(a). Force used after a completed larceny, unconnected to the taking, is ordinarily a separate assault.

Is deferred prosecution available on a robbery charge in North Carolina?

Not under G.S. 15A-1341. Subsection (a1) confines statutory deferred prosecution to a person charged with a Class H or I felony or a misdemeanor, and subsection (a4) confines the conditional discharge to a person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of an offense in that same class range. Common law robbery is a Class G felony and robbery with a dangerous weapon is a Class D felony, so neither offense falls within either subsection as charged.

Can a robbery conviction be expunged in North Carolina?

Not under the nonviolent felony statute. G.S. 15A-145.5 excludes Class A through G felonies from the definition of a nonviolent felony, and excludes offenses that include assault as an essential element. Common law robbery is Class G and robbery with a dangerous weapon is Class D, so both fall outside it. Charges that are dismissed or that end in a not guilty verdict are dealt with under G.S. 15A-146, which expunges qualifying cases by operation of law subject to a carve-out for a felony charge dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement.

Written for North Carolina law and reviewed by David P. Sheehan, attorney, Charlotte. General information, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.