Paul earns his living by stealing other people's property.Recently he has been stealing unattended purses and computers in the university library.One evening while in the library he notices a purse sitting on a table.He begins examining the contents of the purse when a voice shouts "Hey you!" Paul turns and sees a campus police officer approaching.Paul drops the purse and immediately starts to flee as the police officer gives chase.The officer catches up with Paul and a struggle ensues.In an effort to escape,Paul punches the officer in the face.The officer responds by squirting Paul with pepper spray.At that point Paul surrenders.Paul is brought to trial on a charge of robbery.Paul's lawyer should argue that no robbery was committed because:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Robbery is a crime that involves taking or attempting to take something of value from another person by force, threat of force, or intimidation while in the victim's presence. In this case, Paul was caught in the act of stealing the purse and subsequently assaulted the police officer in an effort to escape. However, the assault wasn't committed in order to keep the purse, so it cannot be considered a robbery. Therefore, Paul's lawyer can argue that no robbery occurred.

Paul Earns His Living by Stealing Other People's Property