VIOLENCE

The abuse of force. That force which is employed against common right, against the laws, and against public liberty. In cases of robbery, in order to convict the accused, it is requisite to prove that the act was done with violence; but this violence is not confined to an actual assault of the person, by beating, knocking down, or forcibly wresting from him on the contrary, whatever goes to intimidate or overawe, by the apprehension of personal violence, or by fear of life, with a view to compel the delivery of property equally falls within its limits. When an article is merely snatched, as by a sudden pull, even though a momentary force be exerted, it is not such violence as to constitute a robbery. The term “violence” is synonymous with “physical force,” and the two are used interchangeably, in relation to assaults, by elementary writers on criminal law.