A man walks into a bank and presents the teller with a note demanding money due to his mother’s illness. Normally, when someone walks into a bank and presents a note demanding money, it’s a robbery. That was not the outcome in this case.
At trial, the accused was acquitted of “Robbery” and was convicted of the lesser offence of “Theft Under $5000”. The reason? At trial, two bank tellers testified that they didn’t fear for their safety, rather, they felt sorry for the robber. One of the key elements of the offence of “Robbery” is the “apprehension of physical harm”. The evidence of the tellers revealed that they weren’t afraid of the individual, and as a result, he was acquitted of “Robbery”.
R. v. Oliveiros Ortega, 2014 ONSC 6414
Take a look at the link below:
http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2014/2014onsc6414/2014onsc6414.html