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Burns v. State

Although the defendant claimed that he tricked the restaurant cashier into giving him too much change, the cashier testified that the defendant forcibly grabbed the money from her hand.

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After having pled guilty to count one criminal trespass1 and count two theft by taking2 , Mark Burns was nevertheless tried and convicted of these charges and of count three, which charged him with robbery by sudden snatching arising out of the same conduct.3 The evidence showed that he entered a restaurant and intentionally confused the cashier so that she would give him too much money in exchange for certain large bills. When the cashier stated she would have to get the manager, Burns grabbed the restaurant’s money she still held in her hand and escaped. The court merged the theft count into the robbery count. He appeals the robbery conviction on the ground that no evidence showed that the victim was conscious of the taking prior to the completion of the taking.

It is true that to prove a case of robbery by sudden snatching, the State must prove that the victim was conscious of something being taken from her, and that for any reason she was unable to prevent it.4 It is also true that the difference between robbery by sudden snatching and theft by taking is that in theft by taking the property is taken without the knowledge of the victim, whereas in robbery by sudden snatching the victim must become aware, before the taking is complete, that the property is being taken away from her.5

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