Mitchell v. Commonwealth

A jury convicted Karl David Mitchell of robbery for the theft by force of $743.75 from the manager of a Burger Chef restaurant. The jury fixed punishment at five years in the penitentiary. The trial court imposed the sentence, and we granted Mitchell a writ of error.

The sole question to be resolved is whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that a robbery occurred.

Robbery, undefined in Code § 18.1-91, is defined in our common law as “the taking, with intent to steal, of the personal property of another, from his person or in his presence, against his will, by violence or…