Robbery Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

The city's lawyers step out early. Tempe's City Attorney describes its Criminal Division as the office that prosecutes misdemeanors in Tempe Municipal Court, and no robbery is a misdemeanor. In Arizona the offense is a felony no matter how little was taken and whether or not anyone was hurt. In most cases the charging call therefore belongs to the County Attorney. A narrower group of state felonies goes to the Arizona Attorney General instead, for instance on a referral from the county, after a state agency ran the investigation, or where events spilled over county lines. Either way, we handle these matters whichever office brought the charge.

Tempe Police usually keep the investigation inside city limits. Among the units its Investigations Division names are a Violent Crimes Section (split into day and night teams), a Property Crimes Unit and a Forensic Services Unit. Those pages name the units without saying which one takes which report, so your paperwork shows which detective has the case. On Arizona State University property, ASU Police may be the agency instead: the department has its headquarters on the Tempe campus and original jurisdiction over land the Arizona Board of Regents owns or controls.

Store cases show where a theft ends and a robbery begins. Without force, a shoplifting accusation can remain a city misdemeanor on Fifth Street. Under A.R.S. 13-1901, however, force is any physical act directed against a person to gain control of property, and a robbery lasts from its start until the flight is over. A report of a shove at the door, or a tug of war over a bag in the parking lot, can send the very same facts to the County Attorney as a class 4 felony case.

Some Tempe robbery cases begin with an arrest; others begin with a summons weeks later. Officers can send a report for review without booking anyone. The County Attorney's outline of its felony process says the reviewing prosecutor may send the report back for more investigation, decline it, present it to a grand jury, charge it by direct complaint, or refer it to another jurisdiction. A quiet stretch may only mean that review is still underway.

After a felony booking, the first judge sits at the county's Intake, Transfer and Release facility (ITR) at 2670 S. 28th Dr., a 24-hour site with four courtrooms according to the Superior Court. Rule 4.1 limits the wait between arrest and that hearing to 24 hours. Before release is decided, Adult Probation's Initial Appearance Unit gives the judge the person's history and a Public Safety Assessment score, a tool the department uses to estimate the risk of a new arrest or a missed court date.

Release terms in a robbery case often reach into ordinary routines. The conditions Pretrial Services (South Court Tower) supervises include substance testing, ankle monitors, no-contact orders and orders to keep away from the place where the crime allegedly happened, and under A.R.S. 13-3967 a judge may also limit travel and prohibit deadly weapons. When that place is a store or apartment complex on your daily route, the stay-away term can reshape your week. Do not contact the person who reported the robbery or any witness, directly or through others; questions about contact go through your lawyer.

Armed robbery can bring a dangerous allegation as well. Those higher ranges require the allegation to be charged and then admitted or found (A.R.S. 13-704(L)), and once they apply, probation is off the table (13-704(G)). The allegation has its own proof and can be challenged on its own.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A robbery conviction is a felony conviction, and under A.R.S. 13-3101 it makes a person a prohibited possessor of firearms until the right is restored; 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) can add a federal bar. Section 13-603(C) requires restitution for the full economic loss, and 13-905(P) closes the set-aside door after a dangerous offense. Landlords, employers and licensing boards may see the record, and anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should speak with an immigration lawyer before any plea.