Lawyer for woman accused of Bluffton, other jewelry robberies: Crimes weren’t violent

An attorney for a woman accused in a string of armed jewelry store robberies across the South says some of the charges against her should be dismissed because they don't qualify as a "crime of violence."

In a motion filed over the weekend, attorney Michelle Daffin argues that forcing clerks at gunpoint to be bound in a back room is not violent by definition. She cites a U.S. Supreme Court case known as the "Hobbs Act."

The News Herald (http://bit.ly/1WBgrlH) reports 24-year-old Abigail Kemp and three men are accused in the robberies of stores in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The FBI says Kemp and 35-year-old Lewis Jones III stole an estimated $4.3 million in jewelry. Two other men are accused of providing security for the crimes.

Kemp is suspected in the September 2015 armed robbery of Jared Jewelers in Tanger Outlet Two in Bluffton. The Cobb County, Ga., woman is accused of forcing the employees to the back of the store before walking out with merchandise.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Lawyer for woman accused of Bluffton, other jewelry robberies: Crimes weren’t violent."