The statute: Armed robbery is an assault on another person, while armed with a dangerous weapon, in which the defendant robs, steals, or takes money or other property from the victim’s person or immediate control with the intent to steal it.
What the Commonwealth must prove:
- The defendant was armed with a dangerous weapon.
- The defendant assaulted the alleged victim — by putting the victim in fear or by an attempted or actual touching.
- The defendant took money or other property from the victim’s person or from the victim’s immediate control.
- The defendant took the property with the intent to steal it (to deprive the owner of it permanently).
Penalties: Life in state prison or any term of years. If the defendant was armed with a firearm, shotgun, rifle, machine gun, or assault weapon, the sentence may not be less than 5 years; a subsequent armed robbery conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years. Committing the offense while masked or disguised carries a mandatory minimum of 5 years for a first offense and 10 years for a subsequent offense. There is no house-of-correction (misdemeanor) disposition for armed robbery.
In plain English: Armed robbery is a robbery committed while carrying a dangerous weapon. The weapon does not have to be used or even displayed — being armed during the taking is enough. It is one of the most serious non-homicide felonies in Massachusetts, punishable by up to life in prison.
How these cases are defended:
- Identification — armed robbery prosecutions are frequently built on a single eyewitness identification made under stress; litigating suggestive identification procedures and cross-racial identification issues is often central.
- Challenging whether a “dangerous weapon” was actually possessed — including joint possession and knowledge where multiple people are charged.
- Challenging the taking and intent elements — claim of right, and whether property was taken from the victim’s person or control.
- Suppressing identifications, statements, cell phone location data, and evidence seized in unlawful stops and searches.
- Severance and Bruton issues in multi-defendant cases, and challenging accomplice testimony.
This page is general information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice about any specific case. If you are charged with a crime, contact Davis Law Firm, P.C., 132 Lincoln Street, Suite 5L, Boston, MA 02111, (617) 297-4837.
