Quote:
Originally Posted by TreadLightly
My assumption that could be wrong was that aggravated robbery was just robbery with a weapon / force not necessarily damage caused, Does someone need to be bodily injured (shot / stabbed / beat up) for that charge? Or could you point a gun and get aggravated assault as well? That was why I assumed attempted murder via actually shooting 3betpanda would be a worse crime/punishment under the law.
Under Texas law (see Chapter 29 of the Texas Penal Code), simple robbery requires that one, in the course of committing theft and with intent to obtain or maintain control of the property, he "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another OR intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death." This is a second degree felony.
HOWEVER, it becomes Aggravated Robbery when, while committing Robbery, he "causes serious bodily injury to another, uses or exhibits a deadly weapon, or causes bodily injury to another person or threatens or places another person in fear of imminent bodily injury or death IF the other person is 65 years of age or older OR is a disabled person. Aggravated Robbery is a first-degree felony.
Thus, in this case it is the exhibition and use of a deadly weapon combined with the serious bodily injury.
In the case where there was a conviction only for robbery with the stabbing, that would have been something that was a product of the negotiated plea between counsel and the State. The knife would clearly have been a deadly weapon.
The definitions are why you see some shoplifters charged with Robbery because of injuries sustained by the store security personnel while attempting to detain the deadbeat thieving scum.
Plea agreements allow for all manner of legal fictions to be created, but the underlying facts of the offense remain a part of the permanent record to be considered by the Board of Pardons and Paroles at the time of each consideration for release.
The reason attempted murder also would not fly in THIS case as a companion charge is that it becomes a second punishment for the same conduct specifically by virtue of its included nature. Double jeopardy would result in the Court of Criminal Appeals kicking the lesser-included offense and has, in a few cases, resulted in the case being bounced back to square one and the State being unable to proceed due to a loss of witnesses or evidence through the passage of time. The CCA tends to TRY and just bounce the lesser offense, but sometimes has to kick all of the convictions and remand for new trial.