Estes Robbery

Estes Robbery

RC Phillips, DDA (Ret.)
October, 2021

This P&A examines two areas of robbery.

      1)  First, what is a “special relationship” for purposes of constructive possession   The P&A looks at takeover robberies at businesses as well as robberies in other contexts.

      2)  Second, when does force used in the course of a shoplifting transform the theft into an Estes robbery   The P&A examines what is an Estes robbery, what is mistaken for an Estes robbery, as well as recent California Supreme Court cases that expand and restrict variations on an Estes robbery, and the impact of Prop 47 on charging Estes robberies.

I.  Constructive Possession and Robbery

A.  General Principles

      1.  For robbery, property must be taken from the possession and immediate presence of the victim against his or her will, and must be by means of force or fear.

      2.  Robbery is limited to those persons in either actual or constructive possession of the property taken.

      3.  “A person who owns property or who exercises direct physical control over it has possession of it, but neither ownership nor physical possession is required to establish the element of possession for the purposes of the robbery statute.”  (People v. Nguyen (2000) 24 Cal.4th 756, 762.)

      4.  Multiple convictions of robbery are proper if force or fear is applied to multiple victims in joint possession of the property taken.  (People v. Ramos (1982) 30 Cal.3d 553, ....

© 2026 Legal Updates, LLC.
This content is protected by copyright law. Republishing or redistribution in any form without written permission is strictly prohibited. For licensing or reprint requests, contact support@legalupdates.com.