Court Opinion

ID: 9553024
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:20:54.248485+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:29:32.124636
License: Public Domain

Judge METZGER
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority’s opinion reversing defendant’s conviction of the aggravated robbery of the theater ticket taker.
Relying on People v. Benton, 829 P.2d 451 (Colo.App.1991), the majority concludes that the evidence is insufficient to support a robbery conviction because there is no direct showing that the ticket taker had control over, or the right to control, the money. In Benton, supra at 453, a division of our court held:
Hence, we conclude that, in order to commit the crime of robbery against an individual who does not have physical possession of the article taken, ie., in order to take property from such an individual’s ‘presence,’ that individual must be exercising, or have the right to exercise, control over the article taken.
Thus, it concluded, a customer held hostage with a knife to his body was not a victim of an aggravated robbery because “there was no showing that he had any right of control” over the cash from a fast-food restaurant.
In essence, that opinion equates control with ownership, at the most, and with a legal rather than a practical right to control, at the least. Engrafting either of these requirements onto the definition of control is the functional equivalent of adding an element to the statute. Such policy-based decisions are best left to the General Assembly.
Because I believe that the issue of control should be analyzed in a fact-based totality of the circumstances manner, I disagree with that holding.
Instead, I would adhere to the rule in People v. Bartowsheski, 661 P.2d 235 at 244 (Colo.1983):
We hold that property is taken from the ‘presence of another’ when it is so within the victim’s reach, inspection or observation that he or she would be able to retain control over the property but for the force, threats, or intimidation directed by the perpetrator against the victim.
In that case, our supreme court upheld the defendant’s conviction of aggravated robbery of an 8-year-old child who was present in one room of the family home while the taking-occurred within another room.
Here, the ticket taker was one of two theater employees on the premises during the robbery. Some of his duties, as he described them, were to direct patrons to proper locations within the theater and to make sure that all patrons had left the theater before he closed it for the night.
While the ticket taker was waiting in the front of the theater for the movies to conclude, the robber and a customer (who, unbeknownst to the ticket taker, was being held hostage) approached him. The robber said, “I caught this gentleman doing something. I would like to speak to the manager.” The ticket taker replied, “She’s around the corner in her office,” and pointed out the direction. The robber then asked, “Can you take me to her?” The ticket taker led both men to the manager’s office, opened the door, and all three went inside the 9' x 9' room.
The robber then shut the door, flipped the dead-bolt lock shut, and announced, “This is a robbery and I have a police scanner, so if you call the cops, I’ll be back after I leave.” He also said that he had a gun and was “not afraid to use it.” He ordered the ticket taker to lie face down on the floor by the door, instructed the assistant manager to turn over the money from the safe, and left with the money.
The ticket taker testified that he elected not to try to stop the robber for fear that he would be killed. Another witness testified that the ticket taker had to move his feet so that the robber could open the door of this small room and leave with the money.
In my view, these facts conclusively demonstrate that the money was sufficiently within the ticket taker’s reach, inspection, and observation, as set out in People v. Bartowsheski, supra, to support the jury’s determination that defendant committed aggravated robbery of him.
*31Alternatively, even applying the overly strict standard set out in People v. Benton, supra, the facts and inferences, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, see People v. Bennett, 183 Colo. 125, 515 P.2d 466 (1973), compel the conclusion that the ticket taker was the victim of an aggravated robbery.
By virtue of his employment, the ticket taker was required to ensure that patrons confined themselves to designated areas of the theater. The robber recognized that right of control over theater property when he asked the ticket taker to take him to the manager’s office, a location not accessible to the general public. And, the defendant’s actions in the office demonstrate his intent to wrest control of theater property from its custodians, both the manager and the ticket taker.
Thus, I would affirm defendant’s conviction of that charge. In all other respects, I concur with the majority opinion.