Haw. Rev. Stat. § 708-841
HRS § 708-841
COMMENTARY ON §§ 708-840 AND 841
Basically, robbery appears to consist of both theft and threatened or actual assault. It is significant to note, however, that the theft acts as an incentive to the threatened use of force. Thus the combination of these two criminal activities has a multiplicative, rather than a simple additive effect. This increased risk of harm is one reason why robbery is treated as a separate offense and more severely penalized than the sum of its simple components would seem to indicate.[1] Another reason which has been advanced for the separate treatment of robbery is that the average citizen feels a special degree of affront at the prospect of having his possessions taken through the threat or use of force.[2] In a slightly different vein, it has also been suggested that such an offender "exhibits himself as seriously deviated from community norms, requiring more extensive incapacitation and retraining."[3]
When the Legislature adopted the Code in 1972, it consolidated the Proposed Draft's three degrees of robbery into two degrees. The simple threat or use of force or the reckless infliction of serious bodily injury in the commission of a theft constitutes robbery in the second degree and carries a class B felony sanction. Where the person committing the above acts is armed with a dangerous instrument, or intentionally inflicts serious bodily harm, or attempts to kill, the offense is increased to the first degree and its sanction to a class A felony.
Previous Hawaii law also recognized two degrees of robbery. Robbery was defined as the "stealing of a thing from the person of another or from his custody or presence, by force or putting him in fear."[4] Robbery in the first degree was robbery by one armed with a dangerous weapon who injured another in committing the robbery or who, if resisted, intended to kill or injure another.[5] All other robbery was second degree robbery.[6] Thus, the Code's definitions of the offenses are substantively similar to those of prior Hawaii law; however, the Code's definitions are more inclusive than prior law and are linguistically correlated with the theft offenses.
SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY ON §§ 708-840 AND 841
Act 68, Session Laws 1983, amended §§ 708-840 and 841 so that a person could be charged with robbery if that person, in committing theft, used force intended to overcome any person's resistance. This amendment was believed necessary because often a property owner is not present when force is used to take that owner's property. In that case, under prior law the person forcibly taking the property could not have been charged with robbery. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 788.
Act 68, Session Laws 1998, amended § 708-840 by including in the offense of robbery in the first degree, situations where a person knowingly inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury on another in the course of committing a theft. The legislature believed that since robbery was essentially an assault committed during the course of a theft, the statutory scheme involving the highest degree of robbery, robbery in the first degree, should be consistent with that of the assault statutes, and thus, robbery in the first degree should include both the intentional and knowing states of mind. Act 68 made the offense of robbery in the first degree consistent with the offense of assault in the first degree. House Standing Committee Report No. 1231-98.
Act 116, Session Laws 2006, amended § 708-840, expanding the offense of robbery in the first degree to include using force to commit a theft or threatening imminent use of force against a person during a time of civil defense emergency or during a period of disaster relief. Act 116 penalized the commission of certain crimes during a time of a civil defense emergency proclaimed by the governor or during a period of disaster relief. The legislature found that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita created situations that highlighted the prevalence of opportunistic crimes that can occur during these times. When resources are needed to restore law and order, emergency response aid to victims may be hampered or delayed, leaving victims at an increased risk of bodily injury or death. Stronger measures to control law and order may deter looting and other crimes. Senate Standing Committee Report Nos. 2938 and 3302, Conference Committee Report No. 64-06.
Act 230, Session Laws 2006, amended §§ 708-840(1) and 708-841(1) by establishing motor vehicle theft as part of the offenses of robbery in the first and second degrees, respectively. House Standing Committee Report No. 665-06.
Evidence of threat of force held sufficient. 2 H. App. 259, 630 P.2d 126. __________ §§ 708-840 And 841 Commentary: 1. See Prop. Mich. Rev. Cr. Code, comments at 256. 2. M.P.C., Tentative Draft No. 11, comments at 69 (1960). 3. Id. 4. H.R.S. § 765-1. 5. Id. § 765-8. 6. Id.