Falls Church Robbery Lawyer

Robbery and theft differ in Falls Church because theft is one part of a robbery charge. Essentially, robbery is theft with the additional element of an act of violence, a crime of violence or the threat of violence during the commission of the theft.

If you are charged with a robbery, it is important to seek out an experienced Falls Church robbery lawyer who will aggressively defend you in court and zealously advocate for your rights. Robbery is a severe charge and demands a robust defense.

To be charged with robbery in Falls Church, there only needs to be probable cause that a person committed the crime of robbery including that they committed theft and a crime of violence or committed the theft under the threat of violence.

Robbery is considered more severe than theft because it includes an element of violence. For example, it is possible to have a theft charge with no active victim, however, robbery would need some kind of act of violence or threat of violence to be charged as such so it is much more serious.

Penalties for a Conviction

In Falls Church, the consequences of a robbery arrest are going to change depending on the severity or the facts of the case. If an individual is convicted of robbery, they will most likely face some prison time.  The possible penalty for this charge is from 5 years to life in prison.

The absolute minimum prison time that a person would be sentenced for a robbery conviction is five years. However, a robbery charge can be negotiated down to a theft charge if there is enough mitigating evidence in favor of the defense.

Robbery is a felony offense. For felony convictions in Virginia, a person also loses the right to vote, the right to bear arms, and more. Additionally, felony offenses cause a lifetime criminal record with a felony conviction as well as a prison sentence.

Gathering Evidence

There are several steps an attorney takes when preparing a defense and gathering evidence to defend a case. The first step takes place in their meetings with the client. The Falls Church robbery attorney needs to get the complete story from their client, including what they remember, any potential witnesses, and a complete account of what occurred.

The next step is to gather external evidence such as video footage of the alleged crime, pictures of the crime scene or other pictorial evidence, eyewitness statements, and more. They will then attempt to find what the prosecution has such as police reports and prosecution witnesses and their statements.

This may be obtained through the discovery process, however, most robbery lawyers conduct their own investigation. The investigation could be to try to find their own witness as well as other evidence that the defendant knows exists, but the prosecution may not be aware of.

Benefit of an Experienced Attorney

If you have been charged with robbery, there are many different ways that a robbery defense attorney in Falls Church can attack the evidence against you in your case. A lawyer who knows a lot about not only your case, but also about the way the police operate in Falls Church and the way that a prosecutor is going to approach the evidence will be able to prepare a much more zealous defense than a lawyer who has little to no experience in defending robbery in those areas.