State v. Hutson
| Decision Date | 09 June 1986 |
| Citation | 510 A.2d 706,211 N.J.Super. 49 |
| Parties | STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Donald HUTSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
John Grele, Asst. Deputy Public Defender, for defendant-appellant (Thomas S. Smith, Jr., Acting Public Defender, attorney, James K. Smith, Jr., of counsel; James K. Smith, Jr., and John Grele, and on brief).
Greta-Ann Gooden, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff-respondent (W. Cary Edwards, Atty. Gen attorney, Greta-Ann Gooden, Deputy Atty. Gen., of counsel, and on letter-brief).
Before PRESSLER, BILDER and GRUCCIO.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
BILDER, J.A.D.
On this appeal we are asked to consider whether an oral threat to use a gun unaccompanied by the display of any object capable of being believed by the victim to be a deadly weapon is sufficient to support a conviction of armed robbery.
Following a jury trial defendant was convicted of armed robbery, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1, and illegal possession of diazepam, N.J.S.A. 24:21-20. His conviction arose out of an incident in which a taxi driver contended that defendant, while a passenger, had demanded money and threatened the use of a gun. Originally there were two passengers; when the driver sought aid, the other passenger fled.
From the testimony of the victim, the jury could well have concluded that the passengers demanded money and that one of them said he had a gun. The threat was repeated with the additional statement the gun was a magnum, an assertion that made the driver take the threat seriously. The driver turned around and saw one of the men holding a newspaper. He believed the paper concealed a gun. This was the totality of the evidence with respect to the armed portion of the robbery charge. The trial judge believed it was enough.
I do indicate that the term "deadly weapon," the definition was amended in 1981, I believe, and deadly weapon says any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether that be a weapon or not, and it goes on to say in the latter portion of that, which is consistent with the amendment, or in which the manner it is fashioned, would lead the victim reasonably to believe it to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.
Now, the victim here has indicated that he was threatened, somebody mentioned a Magnum, somebody mentioned a gun. That they demanded his money. That he thought they meant business; that as a result of that he moved at a high rate of speed in his feeling they would not shoot at him if he were driving at a high rate of speed and endangering them.
He indicated he saw a person with a newspaper. He clearly indicated to the Court, I believe, that he thought a weapon was involved. What the Court has to determine, and it doesn't have to be a weapon, it can be a material or substance which is fashioned in a manner that the victim would believe there was a weapon capable of producing death or serious bodily injury. I think he testified to that fact.
... I think those facts clearly raise an issue that the jury will have to determine as to whether or not in fact this would constitute a first degree robbery in the event they find a robbery at all.
Before trial, on a motion to dismiss the armed robbery charge, the trial judge had said:
He doesn't have to see [a weapon], ... if he believes there was a weapon involved. That's my understanding of the law. The subjective test on his part is whether he believed that he had a weapon. I will certainly charge second degree with first degree. I always do in a situation like this. It depends on how the proofs come out and I will be glad to entertain any motion you have later on.
To be convicted of armed robbery, it must be found that the defendant was "armed with, or use[d] or threaten[ed] the immediate use of a deadly weapon." N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1b. However, threat alone is not enough; there must be actual possession of a deadly weapon. See State v. Butler, 89 N.J. 220, 228-229, 445 A.2d 399 (1982).
When the Supreme Court rejected a simulated weapon as the basis for an armed robbery conviction, ibid., the legislature had already broadened the definition of "deadly weapon" to include intrinsically harmless objects which could be understood to be dangerous. 1
"Deadly weapon" means any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material or substance, whether animate or...
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