Court Opinion

ID: 9742343
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:11:12.912565+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:31.330201
License: Public Domain

PRENTICE, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from the majority’s treatment of Issue III. The rule of Williams v. State, (1979) Ind., 395 N.E.2d 239, 248-49, is a severe departure from the common law concepts of the offense of Robbery, does not comport to the language of the robbery statute, and should be overruled.
*32By its terms Ind.Code § 35-42-5-1 creates an offense against the person. In Indiana Robbery has always been an offense against the person. Chizum v. State, (1932) 203 Ind. 450, 453, 180 N.E. 674, 675; Hickey v. State, (1864) 23 Ind. 21, 22. To prove the offense, there must be a taking of property from a person or his presence, through the use of force or threats of force or by putting the person in fear. The victim must have control, custody or actual possession of the property taken. Thus, I agree with the majority’s application of Groce v. State, (1968) 250 Ind. 582, 236 N.E.2d 597 and Paulson v. State, (1979) Ind.App., 393 N.E.2d 211 to teller Rogers. The defendant would not have been able to take the bank’s money from the tellers’ drawers in this case without first threatening Rogers. Additionally Defendant threatened teller Oancea in order to obtain the bank’s money. Two persons were threatened, and property was taken from the control or custody of each. Under the language of Ind.Code § 35-42-5-1 (Bums 1979) two Armed Robberies occurred.
The majority avoids this result by resort to irrelevant observations.
Defendant’s intent to take only the bank’s money and his failure to take personal property from the tellers are irrelevant. Possession, custody, or control of the property taken in the victim threatened is all that need be shown. The ownership of the property taken is immaterial. Swope v. State, (1975) 263 Ind. 148, 164, 325 N.E.2d 193, 201, cert. denied, (1975) 423 U.S. 870, 96 S.Ct. 135, 46 L.Ed.2d 100; Jackson v. State, (1971) 257 Ind. 477, 481, 275 N.E.2d 538, 540; Thomason v. State, (1970) 255 Ind. 260, 263, 263 N.E.2d 725, 727; Smith v. State, (1969) 252 Ind. 148, 246 N.E.2d 765; Webster v. State, (1973) 155 Ind.App. 510, 293 N.E.2d 529, 533.
The majority either overlooks or ignores this rule and states that the robbery statute was not intended to provide multiple punishments for conduct which amounts to a single unitary transaction. We must infer that the unit of transaction is the robbery of a bank, in which several persons are threatened and property is taken from each. In each case decided after Williams,1 more than one person was threatened and property was taken from each person threatened. With the exception of Rogers, we repeatedly distinguished Williams and affirmed convictions consisting of multiple counts of Robbery; one count per person threatened and from whom property was taken. The ownership of the property taken was never a significant factor. In McKinley, Hatcher and Duvall, we sustained an additional count of Robbery which charged the taking of the business’ money from a cashier. And, we explicitly and unanimously rejected the single unitary transaction aspect of Williams in Young v. State, (1980) Ind., 409 N.E.2d 579, 583.
The majority further extolls the Williams rule because of the possibility of a third count of Robbery involving the bank manager. Had a third count been charged, the only issue would have been whether or not the money had been taken from the manager. The majority admits that she was threatened. We need not determine that issue in this case, however, and the majority’s reference thereto misses the point.
In Williams, through the irrelevant vehicle of ownership, we erroneously transformed the bank into the “person” protected by the Robbery statute. A bandit cannot rob a bank or any other business establishment. He can only rob the agents or employees of the business of property in their possession, control, or custody.
The potential for Williams to be used to support unwarranted charges of Robbery is illustrated in Lash v. State, (1981) Ind.App., 414 N.E.2d 338, where three persons took the cash register receipts of a business establishment and money from each of its two employees. Defendant was charged with *33Count I — Robbery of the business property of Maria Pizza, Inc. from Ruby Lewis; Count II — Robbery of the personal property of Ruby Lewis from Ruby Lewis; and Count III — Robbery of the personal property of Adean McCollon from Adean McCol-lon. The court, in granting post conviction relief, stated:
“The robbery statute specifically speaks not only in terms of a taking but also of an individual being placed in fear or subjected to violence. We conclude the legislative intent is that each person has a sanctity that is to be protected. Thus, while courts have chosen to diminish the importance of the amount, type or ownership of property we will not similarly emasculate the element of fear in the robbery statute. Placing multiple persons in fear and taking property from them constitutes multiple offenses of robbery. Proof of the element of fear is separate and distinct as to the identity of the person from whom the property is taken although, due to the single larceny doctrine, proof of the item taken or its ownership, regardless of how multiple, can establish but one theft. Therefore, we conclude, there may be as many offenses of robbery as there are persons placed in fear or subjected to violence and from whom property is taken.” Id. at 343-44.
I agree with the Court of Appeals. There were four robberies in Williams and two robberies in Rogers. Williams is not consistent with the law of Robbery as expressed in the cases which precede and follow it, and it should be overruled. The judgment of the trial court should be affirmed in its entirety.

. Rogers v. State, (1979) Ind., 396 N.E.2d 348; McKinley v. State, (1980) Ind., 400 N.E.2d 1378; Ferguson v. State, (1980) Ind., 405 N.E.2d 902; Young v. State, (1980) Ind., 409 N.E.2d 579; Hatcher v. State, (1980) Ind., 410 N.E.2d 1187; Duvall v. State, (1981) Ind., 415 N.E.2d 718.