State v. Smith

Summary

The court affirmed the Appellate Court's reversal of the defendant's conviction for attempted first-degree robbery and its direction to render an acquittal. Under the plain language of the robbery and larceny statutes, the state had to prove that the defendant intended to take property belonging to another, and a person cannot commit robbery by using force to retake property he owns. The court also held that the statutory justification defense does not replace or eliminate the absence-of-larceny defense, and it rejected contrary implications from prior precedent.