Penal Code § 211 PC – Robbery – California Law & Penalties

California Penal Code § 211 PC defines the crime of robbery as using force or threats to take property directly from another person and against that person’s will.” Robbery is a felony punishable by up to 9 years in state prison.

Note that this section is often abbreviated as PC 211, 211 PC or 211 CPC – which are short for the California Penal Code. The crime is also sometimes referred to as Police Code 211.

Examples

• Breaking into a house (committing the 459 PC burglary) while the residents are inside, then threatening them with physical harm before stealing some of their personal property;¹
• Drugging someone, then stealing their possessions while they are unconscious;² and
• After being caught in the act of stealing something (committing the California crime of PC 487 grand theft or PC 484 petty theft), threatening the owner of the property with physical harm in order to escape.

Penalties

The penalties for robbery are outlined in Penal Code 213 PC. The precise consequences depend on whether you commit robbery of the first degree or of the second degree.³

First-degree robbery includes robbery of

• any driver or passenger on a bus, taxi, streetcar, subway, cable car, etc.,
• any person in an inhabited structure, or
• any person who has just used an ATM and is still in the vicinity of the ATM.⁴

First-degree robbery leads to a California state prison sentence of between three (3) and nine (9) years.⁵

And the sentence for second-degree robbery is two (2), three (3) or five (5) years in state prison.⁶

Legal defenses

Fortunately, there are a variety of legal defenses to robbery charges. These include showing that:

• You didn’t use force or fear to take the property;
• You honestly believed that you had a right to the property;
• You are a victim of mistaken identity; and
• You were falsely accused.

To help you better understand the crime of robbery, our California criminal defense attorneys will address the following:

• 1. Definition of Robbery
• 2. Penalties
• 3. Defense Strategies
• 4. Related Offenses

If, after reading this article, you would like more information, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group.

1. Definition of Robbery

The legal definition of robbery in California centers around the “elements of the crime.” These are the facts that a prosecutor must prove before you can be guilty of this offense.

The elements of robbery under PC 211 are as follows:

1. You took property that was not your own;
2. The property was in the possession of another person;
3. You took the property from the other person or his/her immediate presence;
4. You took the property against that person’s will;
5. You used fear or force to take the property or prevent the other person from resisting; and
6. When you used fear or force to take the property, you intended to deprive the owner of it either permanently or for a long enough time to deprive him/her of a major portion of its value.⁷

Let’s take a closer look at some of the terms in this legal definition.

Taking property

You “take” someone else’s property when you both

1. gain possession of it, and
2. move it some distance—even a very short distance.⁸

Example: Kim is walking down the street carrying a knockoff Louis Vuitton handbag. She is confronted by Michelle, who threatens her with physical harm if she doesn’t give up the bag. Kim gives her bag to Michelle.

Michelle starts to run off with the bag. But after she has gone half a block she realizes that it is a fake. So she drops it and yells back to Kim, “You can keep your fake bag!”

Michelle is guilty of robbery even though she didn’t keep Kim’s bag—because by moving it even a small distance, she met the definition of “taking” it under California robbery law.

In the possession of another person

For purposes of California robbery law, “possession” doesn’t have to mean that a person is actually holding or touching the property. It is enough if they have control over it or the right to control it (this is known as “constructive possession”).⁹

Note that the victim does not have to own the property that is stolen—s/he only needs to have actual or constructive possession of it. For example, a store clerk or other business employee is considered to have possession of the store’s or business’s property.¹⁰

Example: Rob and his friend Paco come across Mike stealing stereo equipment from Rob’s trunk. The confront Mike, and he runs away, carrying the equipment.

Rob and Paco both chase after Mike, but only Paco catches up to him. Mike then pulls a gun on Paco to get him to back down. This allows Mike to escape with the stereo.

Mike is guilty of robbery for pulling a gun on Paco, even though Paco is not the owner of the stereo equipment. Clearly Rob, who did own the property, had granted Paco the authority to help stop the theft. So Paco had constructive possession of the property.¹¹

From the other person or his/her immediate presence

A California robbery only occurs if the defendant takes the property directly from the victim or his/her “immediate presence.”¹²

Property is considered to be in a person’s “immediate presence” if it is within his/her physical control, such that s/he would have been able to keep possession of it if the robbery had not occurred.¹³

Example: Bill confronts Victor, the manager of a jewelry store, outside of Victor’s home, which is several miles away from the store. Bill pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot Victor unless he tells him the combination to a safe at the jewelry store.

Victor tells him the combination, and Bill then calls his friend Andrea, who is at the jewelry store. She uses the combination to open the safe and steal jewelry.

Bill and Andrea did take property from Victor by force or fear. But because they didn’t take the property from his immediate presence—instead, they took it from a location far away—they did not actually commit Penal Code 211 robbery. (They are probably guilty of other California offenses, though, like grand theft and PC 240 assault.)¹⁴

Against the property owner’s will

For purposes of California robbery law, you are considered to have taken property against the owner’s will if s/he does not consent to you taking it. Consent must be given freely, by someone who understands what they are doing.¹⁵

So, for example, if you threaten a person with a gun and they run away—leaving a piece of personal property behind—and you then take their property, you have committed robbery. You took their property without consent, even though they didn’t know you were doing so.

Use of force or fear

PC 211 robbery is distinguished from other California theft crimes by the fact that robbery always involves the use of “force or fear.”¹⁶

Force, for purposes of robbery law, means physical force. And according to Penal Code 212 PC, fear means fear of injury, to either

• the victim him/herself,
• a family member of the victim,
• the victim’s property, OR
• someone else present during the incident.¹⁷

Example: Corey is walking his poodle Max off-leash in a local park.

Sarah coaxes Max over to her with a treat, then grabs Max and puts a knife to his throat. She tells Corey that she will cut Max if Corey doesn’t hand over his wallet.

Even though Sarah didn’t actually threaten Corey personally, her threat to Max met the definition of “force or fear”—and so she is guilty of California robbery.

Interestingly, California courts have held that force or fear is used—and a robbery is deemed to have occurred—if the defendant drugs the victim and then takes his/her property.¹⁸

Example: Doug meets Christine in a bar, and she invites him back to her house for coffee. Doug then slips a sedative into Christine’s coffee. After she passes out, he searches her house for money and valuables and then leaves with these.

Doug is guilty of Penal Code 211 PC robbery, even though his drugging of Christine was an unusual form of “force or fear.”¹⁹

However, the slight, harmless touching that occurs when a pickpocket takes something off of someone’s person does NOT count as “force or fear.” So a pickpocket would not be guilty of California robbery (but would be guilty of another theft crime).²⁰

Intent to deprive the owner of the property

Finally, robbery is a specific intent crime. This means you only commit the crime if—at the time the robbery occurred—you intended to deprive the victim of his/her property, either

1. permanently, OR
2. for a long enough period of time that the owner would be deprived of a major portion of its value or enjoyment.²¹

Example: Karina is a methamphetamine addict. Desperate for money to pay back a dealer, she goes to her estranged mother’s house and confronts her as she is getting home from work. Karina threatens her mother with a knife until her mother hands over a valuable pearl necklace she always wears.

Karina’s intent is to take the pearl necklace to a pawn shop to get cash to pay her dealer. Then she intends to save up enough money to get the necklace back from the pawn shop and return it to her mother.

But Karina is still guilty of robbery, because she intends to deprive her mother of the necklace for an extended period of time.

BUT

Example : While on a wilderness backpacking trip, Ben gets lost and spends several days trying to find his way back to a trail. His cell phone battery dies, he runs out of food and water, and he is very dirty and slightly delirious.

Finally, Ben runs into another hiker. The hiker is obviously afraid of Ben and refuses to talk to him when Ben begs him for his cell phone so he can call for help. So Ben pulls out his Swiss army knife and threatens to stab the other hiker if he doesn’t let him use his phone.

Terrified, the hiker hands over his phone. Ben calls a rescue service and then returns the phone.

This is NOT California robbery, because Ben did not deprive the hiker of a major portion of the value or enjoyment of his phone.

2. Penalties

The penalties for Penal Code 211 robbery depend on whether it is classified as so-called “first-degree” or “second-degree” robbery.²²

What are the penalties for first-degree robbery in California?

California robbery in the first degree is any robbery where any of the following is true:

1. The victim is a driver or passenger of a bus, taxi, cable car, streetcar, trackless trolley, subway, or other similar transportation for hire;
2. The robbery takes place in an inhabited house, boat, or trailer; or
3. The robbery takes place while or immediately after the victim uses an ATM.²³

A house or structure is “inhabited” if someone lives there and either is present, or has left but intends to return.²⁴

First-degree robbery in California is punished as a felony. The potential sentence and other consequences include:

• Felony (formal) probation;
• Three (3), four (4) or six (6) years in California state prison; and/or
• A fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).²⁵

BUT, if you commit first-degree robbery in an inhabited structure, in concert with two (2) or more other people, then the potential state prison sentence for PC 211 robbery increases to three (3), six (6) or nine (9) years.²⁶

What are the penalties for second-degree robbery in California?

California robbery in the second degree is defined by the California Penal Code as any robbery that does not meet the definition of first-degree robbery. ²⁷

The following felony penalties punish robbery in the second degree:

• Felony probation;
• Two (2), three (3) or five (5) years in state prison; and/or
• A fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).²⁸

Robbery cases with multiple victims

A count of robbery is determined by how many victims there are—NOT how many items of property you take.²⁹

So, for example, if you apply force or fear to two people in order to steal the wallet of one of them, you will be charged with two counts of California robbery.

However, if you steal multiple items of property from one person (for example, a piece of jewelry AND a cell phone), you will only be charged with one count of California robbery.

Sentence enhancements for California robbery

In addition to the above robbery penalties, there are a variety of sentence enhancements that may add to the consequences of a Penal Code 211 robbery conviction. These include:

Penal Code 12022.7 PC California’s great bodily injury enhancement

If, while committing a robbery, you cause another person to suffer a “great bodily injury” (defined as a substantial physical injury), then you could be subject to California Penal Code 12022.7, California’s great bodily injury enhancement.³⁰

This sentencing enhancement can add an additional three (3) to six (6) years to your California robbery sentence.³¹

Penal Code 12022.53 “10-20-life use a gun and you’re done”

California’s “10-20-life use a gun and you’re done” law provides for significantly longer sentences for defendants who use a gun in the commission of a robbery.³²

Specifically, you will receive an extra

• Ten (10) years for personally using a firearm in a robbery;
• Twenty (20) years for personally and intentionally firing a gun during a robbery; and
• Twenty-five (25) years to life if you cause a person great bodily injury or death with a firearm during a robbery.³³

California’s three-strikes law

Penal Code 211 robbery is considered a “violent felony” in California law.³⁴ So it is a so-called “strike offense” under California’s “three strikes” law.

This means that, if you have a robbery conviction on your record and you are subsequently charged with any California felony, you will face twice the normal sentence for that felony.³⁵

And if you accumulate three “strike” convictions—one or more of which may be a PC 211 robbery conviction—then you will receive a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.³⁶

3. Defense Strategies

Fortunately, an experienced criminal defense lawyer can help. We can use various common legal defenses to help you fight California robbery charges—or get your charges reduced or dismissed in the pretrial process.

Just some of these are:

You didn’t use force or fear to take the property

According to Riverside criminal defense attorney Michael Scafiddi³⁷:

“The use of ‘force or fear’ is probably the key element distinguishing California robbery from other California theft crimes. If the prosecutors can’t prove this element, then robbery charges can’t stick. The defendant may still be convicted of another California theft crime—but the others usually carry lesser penalties and less stigma than robbery.”

If you took or attempted to take someone’s property, they may well have been intimidated enough to hand over the property without you actually taking any specific action to cause force or fear.

In this case, you can fight your PC 211 charges on these grounds.

You honestly believed that you had a right to the property

If you rob someone—but only do so because you have an honest belief that the property you are taking rightfully belongs to you—then California law excuses the robbery. This is known as the “claim of right” defense.³⁸

The claim of right defense applies even if your belief that you have a right to the property is mistaken or unreasonable.³⁹

However, it does not apply to robberies that are committed for the purposed of settling debts.⁴⁰

Example: Hal goes to the house of his wife, from whom he is in the process of getting divorced. He gives her $200 to pay some bills.

Then Hal’s mother-in-law arrives and starts an argument. Hal realizes that his wife plans to give the $200 to his mother-in-law, whom he can’t stand. He asks for the money back, but his wife puts it in her bra.

Hal then wrestles his wife to the ground and gets the money out of her bra.

Hal may not be guilty of California robbery even though he used force to take money from his wife. This is because he believed that he had a right to take the money back from her.⁴¹

You are a victim of mistaken identity

Robbery defendants are often charged after the victim identifies them in a pretrial lineup—a process that leads to many mistakes and false accusations.

And in many other robbery cases, the perpetrator was wearing a mask or other disguise—which means that a defendant is identified based on

• clothes,
• height/weight, or
• other flimsy pieces of evidence.

An experienced defense lawyer knows how to evaluate the prosecution’s case to see if it is based mostly on less-reliable circumstantial evidence. S/he can fight the Penal Code 211 charges by pointing out the holes in their evidence and reminding the jury that they may not convict unless they are 100% certain they have the right man (or woman).

You were falsely accused

False accusations are responsible for all too many robbery—and other criminal—charges in California.

Someone might falsely accuse you of robbery for any number of reasons. Maybe the actual perpetrator is trying to cover up his own guilt. Maybe an angry or jealous ex-spouse is trying to gain control over you.

This is another situation where a robbery defense lawyer will need to conduct a thorough investigation into the facts of what actually occurred.

4. Related Offenses

Penal Code 211 PC robbery shares elements with, and/or is frequently charged in connection with, certain other California theft crimes and other crimes. These include:

Penal Code 215 PC carjacking

Penal Code 215 PC, California’s carjacking law, makes it a crime to take someone else’s car from their immediate presence, by means of force or fear.⁴²

So, basically, California carjacking is identical to California robbery—except that the stolen property is always a car.

You may be charged with both California carjacking and PC 211 robbery. However, you may only be convicted of one or the other.⁴³

Carjacking is a felony punishable by three (3), five (5) or nine (9) years in state prison.⁴⁴

Penal Code 487 & 488 PC grand theft and petty theft

If you take someone else’s property unlawfully—without the use of force or fear—you could be convicted of either

• Penal Code 487 grand theft, or
• Penal Code 488 petty theft.⁴⁵

Grand theft is charged when the property taken is worth more than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), is a car or a firearm or is taken directly off of the victim’s person. All other cases are petty theft.⁴⁶

So, for example, grand theft or petty theft (and not California robbery) will be charged in cases involving pickpocketing or shoplifting.

Petty theft is a misdemeanor in California law, carrying a maximum county jail sentence of six (6) months.⁴⁷

And grand theft is a wobbler, which means that it may be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony, at the prosecutor’s discretion. Even when it is charged as a felony, the potential jail sentence is only sixteen (16) months, two (2) or three (3) years—less than the potential sentence for robbery.⁴⁸

Because of this, California robbery defendants often try to get their charges reduced to grand or petty theft.

Penal Code 207 PC kidnapping

Penal Code 207 PC, California’s kidnapping law, punishes the use of force or fear to move another person a substantial distance.⁴⁹

If you are accused of a robbery in which you moved the robbery victim any substantial distance—say, forcing him or her into a car and then driving to a remote location to take his/her belongings—then you may be charged with both robbery and kidnapping.

Kidnapping for the purpose of committing a robbery is a very serious crime in California. Kidnapping for the purpose of committing robbery—where the victim is moved a distance that is not just incidental to the commitment of the robbery—may be punished by a life sentence in prison (with the possibility of parole).⁵⁰

Even ordinary kidnapping is punishable by three (3), five (5) or eight (8) years in state prison.⁵¹

Penal Code 518 PC extortion

The crime of extortion in California, Penal Code 518 PC, occurs when someone uses force or threats to compel another person to give them money or other property.⁵²

The difference between PC 211 robbery and PC 518 extortion is that, in a robbery, the victim does not consent to give up his money or property. In extortion, though, the victim does consent, as a result of the defendant’s use of force or threats.⁵³

Also, the definition of “force or fear” is different for extortion than for robbery. For extortion, it includes not just threats to injure a person or their property—but also threats to

• accuse someone of a crime,
• expose a secret, or
• report someone’s immigration status.⁵⁴

Extortion is a felony, punishable by two (2), three (3) or four (4) years in county jail.⁵⁵

Penal Code 459 PC burglary

Finally, Penal Code 459 PC burglary makes it a crime to enter a room, building, or locked vehicle, with the intent to commit a felony (such as a robbery) once inside.⁵⁶

Burglary and robbery are commonly charged together—because any robbery that takes place inside a home or building (for example, a home invasion robbery) also subjects the defendant to burglary charges.

Burglary is a felony if it is committed in a private home and a wobbler if it is committed in any other structure.⁵⁷ The potential felony prison sentence is two (2), four (4) or six (6) years.⁵⁸

An exception to California burglary law is the crime of Penal Code 459.5 PC shoplifting. Shoplifting occurs when someone enters a commercial building during business hours with the intent to steal property worth nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or less. Unlike burglary, PC 459.5 shoplifting is always a misdemeanor.⁵⁹

Additional Resources:

The California Victim Compensation Program (for robbery victims)

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Legal References: