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Real Truth Behind Robbery Cases In California

The truth be told, there's a lot of different ways that you can be charged with a robbery under California Penal Code Section 211.

That doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get convicted of a robbery. You obviously want to avoid that robbery conviction in Los Angeles because here in California we have the three strikes law and any conviction for robbery is a strike, which means you have a felony conviction for robbery for the rest of your life on your record that you can't get off. That's a horrible punishment if you get these robbery convictions.

Prosecutors Will Seek Prison Time

The second thing it does is usually the prosecutors and judges want prison in these robbery cases, so you don't want that robbery charge for the reason because nobody wants to go to prison. Also, because it's a strike and it's a violent felony, you have to serve 85% of any time you get.

So, if you get prison time or county jail time you should expect to serve 85% of that robbery charge. So, the real truth though is that there's a lot of ways that you can get rid of the robbery charge. Sometimes you're charged with robbery — maybe you grabbed somebody's purse and ran away. That's what's called a strong-arm robbery.

Still just as impactful as a armed robbery with a gun. It still hurts, it's still a robbery and you're still looking at prison time.

But, a lot of times — especially if you don't have a record, nobody got hurt, the property was recovered, you can get rid of that robbery charge and get what's called a grand theft person, for example. Penal Code Section 487c. That's not a strike. That's not a violent felony and you're in a much better position if you get that versus a robbery charge.

Reducing Charges to a Lesser Offense

Also, sometimes there's a defense to the robbery charge that you could utilize depending on the circumstances of your robbery case. So, what I think the most vicious punishments are related to robberies is when you endanger people's lives, people get hurt or a gun is used.

If you commit a robbery with a gun, you have a real problem, because there's a ten year enhancement in Los Angeles county relating to robberies when a gun is involved.

Now, there are ways to get around that enhancement, but they're not easy and it's going to take a real smart criminal defense attorney who knows how to work these cases, knows how to investigate them and also knows what evidence the prosecutors will consider in downgrading your robbery charge with something less serious.

So, the real truth about robbery cases is that they're very impactful in your life if you get one, but there's also ways to get rid of them; ways to avoid having to plead to a robbery. If you can't get a full not guilty verdict because you don't have the facts to do it, then you have to get the mitigating factors out there.

Your attorney has to go sit and meet and talk to the head DA in whatever courthouse your case is pending and lay out some of the factors that help you and make it clear that you shouldn't have this stigma attached to a robbery charge in  and the way to do that is through hard work, such as pre-filing intervention, character letters and also getting your client's version of events out to the prosecutor so that they know all of the facts and details and not just the one-sided investigation that the police usually do and not just a statement of the alleged victim.

Sometimes the alleged victim is mad, the embellish things, they add things. They decide they're really going to get the person that robbed them in Los Angeles, so they're going to add a bunch of mean, horrible stuff about them which is not fair. Sometimes we need to do some investigation. Our experienced theft crime lawyers need to get your point of view across so we can end up with the right result in these robbery cases.

Call our Law Firm to Discuss Options

The bottom line is and the real truth is, a robbery charge impacts you the rest of your life so you want to avoid it at all costs, and if you are going to end up with a robbery charge, you want to do everything you can to avoid going to prison.

For more information on Truth Behind Robbery Cases In Los Angeles, a free initial consultation is your best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (213) 542-0979 today.

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