Burglary
Key Takeaways:
- There are several elements to the crime of burglary: trespassing, breaking and entering, with the intent to commit a felony therein.
- Each state defines burglary differently and may have different degrees of charges with different penalties.
- Entering a property with the owner’s consent and committing a crime inside typically is not burglary.
If you have been arrested for burglary and are facing trial you likely have many questions about the crime of which you’ve been accused. Burglary is one of those crimes that you probably hear about frequently. It’s the subject of many movies and TV shows. But burglary has a strict legal definition and only applies to certain actions, some of which you may not have guessed.
Burglary is a serious crime. Seek out a criminal defense attorney to defend you at trial. They will be the best resource to help you with your case and defenses to the crime. This article will also provide information about criminal burglary, it’s definition and penalties, as well as legal defenses to the crime of burglary.
What Is Burglary?
Burglary is what is known as a property crime. In common law (the laws from previous court decisions and judges as opposed to written statutes), criminal courts defined burglary as the trespassing an “breaking and entering of the dwelling of another during the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony therein.” The prosecutors must prove that the act they allege was burglary had each of those elements. It may help to analyze each element separately:
- Trespassing: If you were on someone else’s property without their permission, then it was trespassing.
- Breaking: You created an opening for entry into the building with the use of force. This can include everything from blowing a hole in a wall to pushing open an unlocked door. In some states, it can also include gaining entry through fraud or misrepresentation.
- Entering: This is any intrusion, however brief, into another’s building with any part of the body; if you kick in a window, that can constitute both breaking and entering.
- The dwelling of another: While common law only applied burglary to residences, modern laws generally apply this element to any enclosed structure.
- At night: While older interpretations strictly held that burglary could only occur when it was too dark to see someone, this does not apply anymore.
- With an intent to commit a felony therein: While the felony usually contemplated in burglary charges is larceny (taking someone else’s property without consent and with the intent to keep it), the underlying felony could be any felony, like assault, arson, or murder.
How Will Prosecutors Try To Prove Burglary?
In order to convict someone of burglary, prosecutors will have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That means they must prove every one of the above elements. If you pick the lock on someone’s back door and enter at night but don’t intend to do anything but leave immediately, it is not burglary. Likewise, if you accidentally fall through a skylight and knock a candle over, causing a fire, it is still not burglary because you didn’t intend to cause the arson.
A person who has permission to be in another’s house for a dinner party, who then proceeds to steal jewelry, is also not guilty of burglary. And you can’t burgle your own home.
But what if a door is open or ajar? In the past, courts theorized that people who did not properly secure their homes did not deserve the protections of criminal law. Nowadays, someone who sneaks in through an open window can be guilty of burglary.
What About My State’s Burglary Laws?
Each state has its own burglary statutes, and each may have a different definition of burglary or laws relating to the use of a deadly weapon.
California’s burglary statute doesn’t only apply to “dwellings.” New York also considers it burglary when someone remains on a property without permission, even if they had permission to be there previously, with the intent to commit a crime.
The specific elements of burglary charges will therefore vary depending on where the incident takes place.
What Are Some Defenses to Burglary Charges?
Because there are several elements to any burglary charge, defendants accused of burglary have a few options when arguing their defense:
- Actual innocence: Convincing the court or jury that you didn’t commit the acts in question
- Mistake: Arguing that you had the owner’s consent to be on the property, or that you reasonably believed any items you took belonged to you
- Lack of intent: Contending you had no intent to commit a crime or felony
- Entrapment or duress: Claiming that you would not have committed the crime without someone else’s enticement or threats
The choice of any defense will depend on the specifics of your case and should be handled by an experienced criminal defense attorney.
What Are the Penalties for Burglary?
Along with different elements of burglary statutes, different jurisdictions may have varying degrees of the crime. The penalties associated with a guilty plea or conviction will depend on which degree of burglary is involved.
The differences will often depend on the facts of the case, generally the amount or kind of property stolen, the crime committed in the building, and the relative danger to others. An example of burglary, for instance, is someone who breaks into an office building to burn it down and collect the insurance money. They may be charged with a different burglary offense than someone who sneaks into a dorm room to steal a laptop.
The possible fines and prison sentences will also vary depending on the level of the offense. Some first-degree burglary convictions can carry prison sentences of 25 years, while someone convicted of third-degree burglary may only get probation. These variations will depend on the criminal statutes in your state.
Get Legal Help Today
Anyone suspected of a crime has certain rights, and some of those rights apply before criminal charges are ever filed. If police officers even want to talk to you about an alleged burglary, you should contact a criminal defense lawyer. A local attorney will be familiar with the criminal statutes, as well as the process and procedure regarding charging, plea bargaining, and trials, and can effectively advocate for your legal rights.
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