Source: http://masscases.com/cases/app/23/23massappct93.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 04:19:42+00:00

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INDICTMENTS found and returned in the Superior Court Department on July 30, 1985.
The cases were heard by James D. McDaniel, Jr., J.
J. W. Carney, Jr., Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
not guilty on each charge: (1) on the armed robbery charge because the use of force by the defendant, when interrupted by the victim, occurred subsequent to the taking, and because the taking was not "from the person"; (2) on the assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon charge, because there was no showing that the defendant intentionally used the knife on the victim. We affirm the convictions.
The Commonwealth presented the following evidence. The defendant broke into a restaurant and took an envelope containing money and a check from a freezer in the kitchen. An employee entered the restaurant at 1:30 A.M. and found the defendant, envelope in hand. Upset by the man's presence and his false claim that he worked in the restaurant, the employee turned to use the telephone. The defendant picked up a long knife, told the employee to get away, and cut the telephone cord. The employee ducked into the hallway and was followed by the defendant, who was still wielding the knife. In an effort to defend himself, the employee tried to grab the knife handle but was only able to grasp the blade. In the struggle his fingers were cut.
1. Armed robbery. Relying on Commonwealth v. Novicki, 324 Mass. 461 (1949), the defendant argues that the taking was not effected by force or threat of force and hence was only a larceny and not a robbery. The intimidation occurred, he claims, only after he was caught by the employee. Novicki, however, is to be distinguished. As explained in Commonwealth v. Jones, 362 Mass. 83, 90 (1972), in Novicki, "the alleged robber had left the victim's presence undetected and was in the process of leaving through a door before he was noticed." Moreover, the court in Novicki, 324 Mass. at 465, specifically pointed out that the "crime may be considered as continuing at least until the defendants left the store with the money."
1009 (1985), would-be thieves, after being interrupted in their task by a returning tenant, assaulted him. One of the culprits was charged under G. L. c. 265, Section 18A, with assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling house with intent to rob. He sought to show that the assault (use of a spray) was to facilitate an escape from the victim's apartment, not to steal from the victim by putting him in fear. The court, however, held that the evidence supported an inference that the assault "was connected to the objective of stealing property" and that the entry into the apartment by the victim, who was placed in fear, "converted the larceny . . . to a robbery."
have prevented the taking, had he not been intimidated." Commonwealth v. Stewart, 365 Mass. at 108. See also Commonwealth v. Homer, 235 Mass. 526, 533 (1920); Commonwealth v. Jones, 362 Mass. at 87. As indicated in Commonwealth v. Stewart, supra at 108, the employee "had a duty of loyalty toward his employer and thus some protective concern for the money."
2. Assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The victim testified that he tried to grab the knife handle "to defend [him]self," and was cut in the process. The defendant, having intentionally placed the employee in fear by pursuing him with a knife, cannot avoid the consequences of a battery by asserting his lack of intent to commit one. General Laws c. 265, Section 15A, "does not require specific intent to injure; it requires only general intent to do the act causing injury . . . . The required intent is satisfied by proof of intent to commit the lesser crime of assault with a dangerous weapon." Commonwealth v. Appleby, 380 Mass. 296, 307-308 (1980).
[Note 1] He makes no argument concerning his conviction of breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny and any appeal from that conviction is deemed waived. See Mass.R.A.P. 16(a) (4), as amended 367 Mass. 921 (1975).
[Note 2] We recognize that some, mainly older, cases define a taking more narrowly. See Perkins & Boyce, Criminal Law c. 4, Section 2, at 349 (3d ed. 1982). See also LaFave & Scott, Criminal Law Section 94, at 701 (1972). The Model Penal Code, Section 222.1(1) (Official Draft 1980), defines "in the course of committing a theft" as including "in an attempt to commit theft or in flight after the attempt or commission." For a collection of cases, see 93 A.L.R.3d 643 (1979).

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