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35. In a jurisdiction that follows the common law with respect to criminal offenses, of what crime can the man properly be convicted?
A woman was standing in the aisle of a subway car and put her purse on the seat next to her. A man approached the woman from behind and grabbed the purse off the seat. He then pushed the woman out of the way and ran out of the subway car while carrying the purse. The man was apprehended on the subway platform while in possession of the purse.
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Robbery is: (i) the wrongful taking; (ii) of another's property from his person or presence; (iii) through force OR threat of injury; (iv) with the intent to permanently deprive the person of his property. Robbery is an assault or battery PLUS larceny and requires force or threat to obtain the victim's property (whereas larceny does not require force or threats).
Lesser-included offenses «merge» into greater offenses. One may not be convicted of a lesser offense when it consists of some, but not all, elements of a greater crime. Larceny merges into the robbery as soon as force, or threat of force, accomplishes the taking and carrying away.
D is correct. Here, the man met the elements of larceny by taking away the woman's purse (her personal property) with the intent to permanently deprive her of the purse. Furthermore, the purse was taken from the seat next to the woman (within her presence), and the man pushed the woman away, using force to get away from her. Larceny merged into the robbery and, as such, the man may be convicted of common law robbery.
A is incorrect. To meet the «force» element of robbery, any amount of force to overcome resistance is sufficient. Here, the facts state that the man pushed the woman out of the way in order to get away. This meets the element of force for a robbery analysis. This use of force elevates the man's crime to robbery and not merely larceny.
B is incorrect. As discussed above, to meet the elements of robbery, the defendant must EITHER use force or make a threat of immediate injury. Here, although the man did not make a threat, his actions of pushing the woman away while carrying and taking away the woman's purse, constituted a use of force to commit larceny.
C is incorrect. This answer reaches the correct answer with the wrong reasoning. Though it is true that an element of robbery is taking away another person's personal property from the person's presence, this answer is missing the robbery element of the use of force or threat of injury. Here, the facts state that the man pushed the woman aside in order to get away. This use of force in the commission of larceny is what makes this a robbery.