State v. Sein

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

CLIFFORD, J.

The narrow issue on this appeal, here by certification granted, 117 N.J. 159, 564 A.2d 877 (1989), is whether the sudden snatching of a purse from the grasp of its owner involves enough force to elevate the offense from theft from the person to robbery as defined by N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1a(1). Finding insufficient evidence that defendant had used force on his victim as contemplated by the statute, the Appellate Division reversed defendant’s conviction for robbery and remanded for the entry of an amended judgment of conviction for theft and for…