Defending a Dumfries Robbery Charge

A robbery charge can be life altering. More severe than theft, robbery can come with penalties of heavy fines and long periods of incarceration. Defending a Dumfries robbery charge is not a particularly easy thing to do, but an experienced Dumfries attorney can assist you in making sure the best possible course of action is taken for your case. If you have found yourself charged with robbery in Dumfries, it is pertinent you contact a lawyer immediately.

Robbery vs. Theft Charges

The primary difference between theft and robbery is that theft involves the taking of something that belongs to someone else, and robbery involves the additional two elements of taking that property directly from a person in their presence and doing so with force, the threat of force, or intimidation.

Robbery is by far considered a more severe crime than theft. Theft can be charged as a felony if the value of the property taken is $200 or more. With each convicted theft offense, the greater the consequences become. Robbery carries penalties of up to a life sentence, which makes it a great deal more severe than theft. An attorney who has experience defending a Dumfries robbery charge can help to lessen any of the most severe penalties through negotiations with the prosecution and offering a robust defense

Negotiations & Plea Deals

A robbery charge will be negotiated down to a theft charge only under circumstances where a forceful defense have been developed and the government is concerned they will lose the trial. Because robbery is considered to be such a severe crime, a plea agreement that favorable only comes when an excellent defense has been presented. This can only be done by an attorney who has experience defending a Dumfries robbery charge.

A plea deal is something an attorney would encourage someone charged with robbery to take if it appeared that the offer on the table was advantageous to the defendant, particularly in light of what the likely outcome of that trial would be.

Benefits of a Dumfries Attorney

If an individual is charged with robbery, in many ways they may be on trial for their life. Not in the sense that the death penalty is on the table, but because this is the kind of charge that can result in a life altering the amount of incarceration. This is the kind of charge that an individual cannot go at alone, and that they cannot face without the benefit of very experienced local counsel, who have a history of defending a Dumfries robbery charge.

A person should contact a criminal lawyer as soon as they know that they are under investigation, or at the point that they know they have been charged. There are steps that can be taken early on in the representation which can help the person in the short term, as well as at trial. There are also common mistakes that defendants make early on in the process, which a lawyer will help them to avoid. An experienced attorney is absolutely necessary for defending a Dumfries robbery charge.

When contacting an attorney regarding a robbery charge, an individual will want to know exactly what they are charged with and have the charging document, which in Virginia is usually an arrest warrant, available. They will also want to have any other papers that they had received during the arrest or booking process. An individual is also going to want to have thought about the facts and circumstances of the case, and the universe of evidence which might be available. This includes testimonial evidence, documentary evidence, and forensic evidence.