State v. Johnson, 76528-6.
| Decision Date | 13 October 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 76528-6.,76528-6. |
| Citation | 155 Wn.2d 609,121 P.3d 91 |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Richard Stephen JOHNSON, Jr., Petitioner. |
Daniel Herbert Bigelow, Attorney at Law, Cathlamet, for Petitioner/Appellant.
Spokane County Prosecutor's Office, Kevin Michael Korsmo, Spokane, for Appellee/Respondent.
En Banc.
¶ 1 We consider whether a robbery conviction can be based upon force used to escape after peaceably-taken property has been abandoned. Concluding that the force must be used to obtain or retain property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking, we reverse Richard Johnson's first degree robbery conviction.
¶ 2 Johnson walked into Wal-Mart, loaded a $179 television-video cassette recorder combo into a shopping cart, removed the security tag, and pushed the cart out the front door. Two security guards observed him, followed him into the parking lot, and confronted him. Johnson abandoned the shopping cart and started to run away, but suddenly turned back. One of the guards grabbed Johnson's arm. Johnson punched the guard in the nose and ran away. The guards were unable to catch him, but a police officer positioned his car in Johnson's path and arrested him.
¶ 3 The State charged Johnson with first degree robbery. Following a bench trial, the superior court found Johnson guilty as charged. The court entered findings of fact stating that Johnson walked away from the shopping cart and was attempting to escape the guards when he punched one of them in the nose, causing bleeding. In its conclusions of law, the court said that Washington has adopted the transactional view of robbery: "[t]herefore, even though the Defendant did not use force to obtain or retain property, he used force in an attempt to escape and inflicted bodily harm." Clerk's Papers at 73.
¶ 4 Johnson appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because he did not use force to obtain or retain property, but rather used force while attempting to escape after abandoning the property. The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, concluding robbery includes the use of force while attempting to escape or resist apprehension following a theft. We disagree with the Court of Appeals attempt to broaden the transactional view of robbery beyond the statutory elements of the crime.
¶ 5 A person commits robbery by unlawfully taking personal property from another against his will by the use or threatened use of force to take or retain the property. "Such force or fear must be used to obtain or retain possession of the property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking; in either of which cases the degree of force is immaterial." RCW 9A.56.190 (emphasis added). And...
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In re Knight
...conclude only that such force required to complete a robbery need not be contemporaneous with the taking itself. State v. Johnson , 155 Wash.2d 609, 611, 121 P.3d 91 (2005) (citing State v. Handburgh , 119 Wash.2d 284, 830 P.2d 641 (1992) ).¶ 19 Even though we have held in the past that eac......
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State v. Derri
...State v. Johnson , Johnson took an item from a store and brought it outside in a shopping cart without paying for it. 155 Wash.2d 609, 610, 121 P.3d 91 (2005) (per curiam). After security guards confronted Johnson, he "abandoned the shopping cart and started to run away." Id. A guard grabbe......
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State v. Witherspoon
...146 Wash.App. 619, 629, 191 P.3d 99 (2008). But force used in attempting to escape after a theft is not robbery. State v. Johnson, 155 Wash.2d 609, 611, 121 P.3d 91 (2005) (rejecting the argument that force used in an effort to escape after a theft constitutes the force necessary for robber......
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State v. Phillips
...effected an escape." State v. Truong, 168 Wash. App. 529, 535-36, 277 P.3d 74 (2012). ¶16 A Supreme Court decision, State v. Johnson, 155 Wash.2d 609, 121 P.3d 91 (2005), illustrates the implications of this transactional view. There, a man who used force to effect an escape only after aban......