DARRELL LAVETTE GOLDSMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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PATTERSON, Judge.
Goldsmith challenges his conviction for unarmed robbery on the basis that the taking was accomplished without the required force or violence to constitute a robbery. We agree and reverse.
On August 15, 1989, James Ward, a part-time Highlands County deputy sheriff, was working undercover as a drug buyer in Lake Placid. While attempting to negotiate a purchase of crack cocaine from Goldsmith, Goldsmith snatched a ten-dollar bill from Ward’s hand and ran. Goldsmith did not touch Ward in the process of the theft. The slight force used by Goldsmith to remove the bill from Ward’s hand is insufficient to constitute the crime of robbery. See S. W. v. State, 513 So. 2d 1088 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987).
Reversed and remanded with directions to adjudicate Goldsmith guilty of petit theft.
SCHOONOVER, C.J., and PARKER, J., concur.
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Robinson v. State, 692 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 1997)…resistance by the victim amounts to theft rather than robbery. Florida courts have consistently recognized that in snatching situations, the element of force as defined herein distinguishes the offenses of theft and robbery. See Goldsmith v. State, 573 So. 2d 445 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)(snatching money from a person’s hand did not involve force sufficient to elevate the offense from petit theft to robbery); A.J. v. State, 561 So. 2d 1198 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)(grabbing a camera from the victim’s shoulder did not invo…1 / 2
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Robinson v. State, 680 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)…front of elderly woman’s dress and snatching her purse was insufficient to support robbery conviction where there was no evidence of force, violence, assault or putting in fear), review denied, 491 So. 2d 281 (Fla.1986); see also Goldsmith v. State, 573 So. 2d 445 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (slight force used in snatching ten dollar bill from person’s hand, without touching the person, was insufficient to constitute the crime of robbery); A.J. v. State, 561 So. 2d 1198 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (degree of force used to grab…
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Sanders v. State, 769 So. 2d 506 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)…held that the perpetrator must employ more force than necessary to remove the property from the person; specifically, there must be resistance by the victim that is overcome by the physical force of the offender. Id. at 886. In Goldsmith v. State, 573 So. 2d 445 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), an undercover deputy was attempting to buy crack cocaine from Goldsmith when Goldsmith snatched a ten-dollar bill from the deputy’s hand without touching the deputy in the process. The court held that the slight force used by Gol…
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- S.W. v. State, 513 So. 2d 1088 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)