Mason v. Commonwealth
200 Va. 253, 1958 Va. LEXIS 182, 105 S.E.2d 149 (1958)
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Rule of Law:
For a crime to constitute robbery, the element of violence or intimidation must precede or be contemporaneous with the taking of the property; violence used merely to retain possession of already stolen property or to facilitate an escape does not satisfy this requirement.
Facts:
- On the night of January 18, 1958, Joseph Grimes was in his unlit radio-television store.
- After observing a car pass by several times, Grimes became apprehensive, armed himself with a board, and hid inside.
- William Paul Mason came to the store and threw a cement missile through the front plate glass window.
- Mason entered the store, took a portable television set from a display, and crouched down.
- Mason handed the television set through the broken window to a confederate outside.
- After the television was in the confederate's arms, Grimes emerged and struck Mason on the shoulder with the board.
- Mason spun around, threw a portable radio at Grimes, and then fired a pistol four times in Grimes's direction.
- Grimes testified that he was not in fear until Mason fired the first shot, which occurred after the television was gone.
Procedural Posture:
- William Paul Mason was charged by indictment with the robbery of Joseph Grimes.
- A jury in a Virginia trial court convicted Mason of robbery and fixed his punishment at life imprisonment.
- Mason filed a motion to set aside the verdict, arguing the evidence was insufficient to prove robbery.
- The trial court overruled Mason's motion and entered a final judgment on the jury's verdict.
- The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia granted Mason's appeal.
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Issue:
Does a defendant's use of violence after the taking of property is complete, for the purpose of retaining the property or escaping, elevate the crime of larceny to robbery?
Opinions:
Majority - Miller, J.
No. The defendant's use of violence after the taking was complete does not constitute robbery. Robbery at common law requires that the taking of property be accomplished by violence or intimidation. The violence or intimidation must precede or be concomitant with the taking. In this case, the taking and asportation of the television set were completed when Mason passed it to his confederate. The subsequent violence—throwing a radio and firing a pistol—was used not to accomplish the taking, but to effectuate an escape after being discovered. Because the taking was accomplished by stealth and without any force or fear directed at Grimes, the essential elements of robbery are not met.
Analysis:
This case clarifies the temporal relationship between the taking of property and the use of force required for the crime of robbery in common law jurisdictions. The decision establishes a bright-line rule that violence used solely for escape or retention of stolen goods, after the act of taking is complete, does not elevate a larceny to a robbery. This forces prosecutors to prove that the force was part of the same continuous transaction as the taking itself, rather than a separate, subsequent act. The ruling distinguishes between force used to acquire property and force used to get away with property already acquired.
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