People v. Reeves

We are asked to consider whether evidence of a victim’s reasonable apprehension of an immediate battery satisfies the assault element of assault with intent to rob while unarmed (awir-u). The Court of Appeals reversed defendant’s conviction of that offense on the basis that there was no proof that defendant possessed the actual ability to carry out the threatened battery. We conclude that an assailant’s undisclosed inability to do harm to an intended victim does not preclude a conviction of an awir-u offense, as long as the victim’s apprehension of imminent injury was reasonable. We reverse…