Orlando Robbery Lawyer
The single most consequential decision in a robbery case happens before trial, often within the first 48 to 72 hours: whether to retain defense counsel who will independently investigate the evidence before the state’s case hardens into a fixed narrative. Prosecutors build robbery charges quickly, and the witnesses they interview first, the surveillance footage they collect, and the identifications they obtain early on become the scaffolding for everything that follows. An Orlando robbery lawyer who gets involved immediately can challenge that scaffolding before it becomes load-bearing. Waiting, even by a few days, can foreclose defense options that simply cannot be recreated later.
What Florida Law Actually Requires Prosecutors to Prove in a Robbery Case
Under Florida Statute Section 812.13, robbery is defined as the taking of money or other property from a person, or from their custody, with the intent to permanently or temporarily deprive that person of the property, and doing so through the use of force, violence, assault, or putting someone in fear. Each of those elements is a potential point of failure for the prosecution. The law does not criminalize theft alone. Force or intimidation must be directly connected to the taking itself, not incidental to it.
Florida courts have grappled repeatedly with the question of whether force used after a taking qualifies as robbery. In some cases, a taking followed by a physical struggle to retain property has been argued as a lesser offense. Prosecutors must prove the force was used in furtherance of the theft, not as a separate act. This distinction between robbery and theft, or between robbery and battery committed separately from a theft, is one of the most exploited pressure points in Florida robbery prosecutions.
Armed robbery under Section 812.13(2)(a) carries a minimum of ten years in Florida state prison when a firearm is involved, and certain enhancements under the 10-20-Life statute can apply. Home invasion robbery under Section 812.135 is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. The charged offense matters enormously, and the difference between how a crime is classified often comes down to contested facts that a thorough defense investigation can bring into serious dispute.
Robbery Penalties Under Florida Statute 812.13 and Related Sentencing Enhancements
Robbery without a weapon is a second-degree felony, carrying up to fifteen years in Florida state prison. Robbery with a weapon that is not a firearm elevates the charge to a first-degree felony, with a maximum of thirty years. Robbery with a firearm, or with a semi-automatic firearm or machine gun, triggers the 10-20-Life mandatory minimum framework, which strips the sentencing court of most of its discretion. A judge cannot go below the mandatory minimum even with compelling mitigating circumstances.
Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code also assigns a severity level to robbery offenses. A second-degree robbery scores at level seven on the offense severity ranking chart, which means the scoresheet calculation will often produce a minimum prison term even for first-time offenders depending on the total points. This is a detail that surprises many defendants and their families who assume that no prior record creates leniency by default. The math does not always cooperate with that assumption.
An unexpected but critically important aspect of Florida robbery cases is the role of attempted robbery charges. Under Section 812.13, an attempt carries only slightly reduced penalties, but the same evidentiary burdens apply. If the state cannot prove the actual taking was completed, they may pivot to an attempt charge, and defense counsel must be prepared to contest both theories simultaneously rather than treating them as mutually exclusive scenarios that require different approaches.
Where Defense Attorneys Find Weaknesses in the State’s Evidence
Eyewitness identification is the single most frequently challenged category of evidence in robbery prosecutions, and for good reason. Research compiled over decades, including studies cited in the National Academy of Sciences 2014 report on eyewitness identification, demonstrates that cross-racial identifications, identifications made under stress, and identifications conducted through suggestive lineup procedures carry significant error rates. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190 allows for motions to suppress identifications that resulted from unduly suggestive procedures, and courts have granted such motions in Orange County cases when law enforcement failed to follow established guidelines.
Surveillance footage is another area where the state’s confidence sometimes outpaces the actual quality of the evidence. Low-resolution video, footage from wide-angle cameras covering large public spaces like those near the Orange County Convention Center or along International Drive, and footage that captures a person of similar build and clothing rather than a confirmed identity can all be challenged with expert analysis. At The Baez Law Firm, independent forensic analysis is standard practice, not an add-on. The prosecution’s version of what the evidence shows is treated as a starting point for investigation, not a conclusion.
Cell phone data, GPS records, and social media evidence are increasingly central to robbery cases. Law enforcement frequently obtains this data through warrants, but the scope of those warrants and whether they comply with the Fourth Amendment’s particularity requirements is examined carefully. Evidence obtained through overbroad digital search warrants has been suppressed in Florida federal and state courts. Defense counsel with experience in both state and federal criminal practice brings a broader toolkit to these challenges.
How Robbery Cases Move Through the Orange County Criminal Courts
Robbery charges in Orange County are filed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, which serves both Orange and Osceola Counties. The main Orange County Courthouse is located at 425 North Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando. Arraignments, pretrial hearings, and trials are all conducted there, and the procedural rhythm of that courthouse, including how judges handle speedy trial demands, what prosecutors in the State Attorney’s Ninth Circuit expect at early case conferences, and how the court schedules motions hearings, all factor into defense strategy in ways that a generic criminal defense approach cannot account for.
Bond hearings in Orange County robbery cases are often contentious because robbery is classified as a violent felony. First appearance occurs within 24 hours of arrest, and the arguments made at that hearing about flight risk and community ties can set the tone for how the prosecution views the defense’s approach to the entire case. A defense attorney who arrives at first appearance with documented community ties, employment records, and relevant legal arguments makes a meaningfully different impression than one who simply asks for bond reduction without substantive support.
Common Questions About Robbery Charges in Orlando
Can a robbery charge be reduced to a lesser offense like theft or strong-arm battery?
The law permits it, and it does happen, but the path to a reduced charge depends heavily on the specific facts of the case rather than prosecutorial generosity. In practice, prosecutors in the Ninth Circuit will consider reductions when the evidence connecting force to the taking is genuinely ambiguous, when eyewitness identifications are shaky, or when the defense presents a compelling factual narrative through investigation. Charge reductions are negotiated outcomes, not automatic responses to a defendant’s clean record.
Does it matter if no weapon was actually used but the victim believed one was present?
Yes, and this is one of the more complex areas of Florida robbery law. Under Section 812.13, the statute addresses actual force, violence, and assault, as well as putting the victim in fear. The state does not always need to prove a weapon existed if they can prove the defendant created a reasonable apprehension of danger. However, the specific language used, the gestures made, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged implied threat are all subject to cross-examination and defense challenge.
What is the difference between robbery and carjacking under Florida law?
Carjacking is codified separately under Section 812.133 and involves the taking of a motor vehicle from another person by force, violence, assault, or intimidation. It is always a first-degree felony with the same potential enhancements as robbery with a weapon. The distinction matters procedurally because the charging document and the evidence the state must produce differ, and defense strategies for carjacking often focus heavily on identification and the reliability of the victim’s account given the high-stress nature of vehicle takings.
How does the “10-20-Life” law affect an armed robbery case in Orange County?
Practically speaking, it removes the judge’s ability to deviate downward from mandatory minimums regardless of circumstances. A defendant convicted of armed robbery with a firearm faces a mandatory ten-year minimum. Discharge of the firearm triggers a twenty-year minimum. If someone is shot, the minimum becomes twenty-five years to life. These are not guidelines. They are floors. This is why pretrial litigation, including suppression of evidence and challenging the identification of the weapon itself, carries enormous practical weight in armed robbery cases.
If someone was present during a robbery but did not personally take anything, can they still be charged?
Florida law on principals, codified in Section 777.011, makes anyone who aids, abets, counsels, hires, or otherwise procures the commission of a felony equally liable as a principal in the first degree. In practice, this means a lookout, a getaway driver, or someone who was simply present and arguably facilitated the crime can face the same charges as the person who physically committed the robbery. These cases often hinge on whether the state can prove the individual’s knowledge and intentional participation, both of which are genuinely contested legal questions.
How early should someone contact a defense attorney after a robbery arrest?
The law says you have a right to counsel before answering questions. What happens in practice is that many people speak to law enforcement before invoking that right, often believing cooperation will help them. It typically does not, and it often creates admissions that the state then builds its case around. Retaining defense counsel before any statements are made, and ideally before the first appearance hearing, positions the defense most favorably for every stage that follows.
Areas Served by The Baez Law Firm Across Central Florida
The Baez Law Firm represents clients facing robbery and other serious criminal charges throughout Orange County and the broader Central Florida region. That includes defendants from downtown Orlando and its adjacent neighborhoods, as well as those from communities across the metropolitan area such as Kissimmee, Sanford, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, and Winter Park. The firm also serves clients in Osceola County, which shares the Ninth Judicial Circuit with Orange County, meaning cases in Kissimmee and Saint Cloud follow the same court system and many of the same prosecutorial patterns. Whether the case arises from an incident near the tourist corridors of International Drive, in the commercial corridors of Semoran Boulevard, or in the residential areas of east Orlando, the defense approach is driven by the specific facts and evidence rather than geography.
An Orlando Robbery Attorney Ready to Work Your Case From Day One
Jose Baez has been recognized by national media figures and legal peers as one of the preeminent trial lawyers in the country, a reputation built not on press releases but on outcomes. The acquittal in the Casey Anthony murder trial. First-degree murder charges dismissed against a California doctor. An Ohio doctor cleared of 25 counts of murder. A hedge fund executive acquitted in federal court in Brooklyn. These were not cases won through routine procedure. They were won through independent investigation, forensic analysis, and a refusal to accept the prosecution’s narrative as fixed. That same approach applies to every case at this firm, including yours. If you or someone you know has been charged with robbery in Central Florida, the time to act is now. Contact The Baez Law Firm to speak with an Orlando robbery attorney who is prepared to begin working immediately.
