At Banks & Brower, criminal defense is what we do best. Our defense attorneys have more than 80 years of combined experience, as well as the unique perk of being former prosecutors. We know how the other side operates and can predict their strategies to come up with the strongest possible defenses.
Potential Defenses
If you’re facing robbery charges in Indianapolis, your situation could be dire. You need to retain top-rated attorneys to represent you during your trial for the best odds of reducing your charges, taking a plea deal, or pleading innocence. Otherwise, you could face months to years in jail or prison, on top of thousands of dollars in fines. Learn more about robbery defense during a complimentary case evaluation at our local Indianapolis, Indiana office.
Pleading Innocent
The way the U.S. criminal justice system works, the prosecution bears the burden of proof, not the defendant. This means that in a criminal robbery case, it is the prosecutor’s duty to prove you committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Pleading innocent to robbery charges places the burden on the prosecution to prove otherwise. Attacking the other side’s evidence against you, questioning the lawfulness of the arrest, challenging witness testimonies, and taking other actions could all be elements involved in an innocence defense. As long as your attorney can cast a “reasonable doubt” on your guilt, the jury will typically return an acquittal of charges.
You Did Not Take the Property
Although some robbery charges don’t require the defendant to have actually taken the goods in question, this is not always the case. You might have the opportunity to avoid a conviction if you can show that you did not actually take the property from the victim’s person or in the victim’s presence. The same is true if you can show that the victim gave you permission to take the property or in a case where you were only borrowing the property and intended to give it back. These are all possible defenses that could result in case dismissal.
Mistaken Identification
Many times when someone is charged with Robbery, the case is primarily based on an eye witness identification. There have been numerous studies that show eyewitness identifications are inherently unreliable. In scientific studies, it has been demonstrated that the human memory cannot be trusted in identifying an unknown subject. You should make sure your attorney knows the process of how to attack and eyewitness identification.
Duress
“Duress” can refer to any action a person brings against someone else, with the intent to force the victim into doing something against his/her will or better judgment. You might be able to argue that you committed the crime in question under duress by someone else and, therefore, the courts should not hold you accountable.
To argue duress, you would have to show another person forced you to rob the victim by threatening you with violence, causing you bodily injury, constraining you, or some other act that resulted in duress. While many courts have rejected the duress defense if the defendant had the opportunity to avoid committing the crime, a skilled attorney might be able to use this strategy in the right circumstances.
Entrapment
A potential defense to robbery could be entrapment, if someone such as a law enforcement officer or individual pushed or coerced you into committing a crime you otherwise would not have committed. The entrapment defense is a difficult one to prove, but it could be possible if you can show that the “victim” of the robbery entrapped you solely to bring these charges against you. Entrapment defenses rely on the ability to prove you would not have committed the robbery were it not for the entrapment.
Contact Us About Robbery Defense in Indianapolis
For more information about potential defense strategies in your particular robbery case, call the Indianapolis criminal defense attorneys of Banks & Brower at (317) 870-0019, or contact us online for a free consultation.
