A Armed Burglary Defense Attorney commonly represents defendants and criminal suspects charged with burglary and armed burglary. In Florida, burglary involves the entering of a house, building, or car with the criminal intent to commit a criminal offense therein, unless the premises are open to the public or the criminal suspect or defendant was invited to enter. If an invited person remains in the place where he or she was invited to enter after the invitation has expired and he or she has the criminal intent to commit a criminal offense therein, the invited person may be charged with the criminal violation of Burglary. To prove the criminal violation of Burglary, the State Attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the criminal suspect entered a structure, conveyance, building, or car owned by or in the possession of another person, and that at the time of entering, the criminal suspect had the intent to commit a criminal offense therein. The criminal suspect must not have been licensed or invited to enter, and the premises must not have been open to the public at the time of the entering. If the criminal suspect did have a license or invitation to enter, but it was obtained by trick, fraud, or deceit, then the license or invitation to enter was not valid, and the entrance was thus a criminal violation. If the criminal suspect entered premises that were open to the public, but then entered an area of the premises that he or she knew was not open to the public, then the criminal suspect committed a burglary if he or she entered that non-public area with the criminal intent to commit offense in that non-public area.

A criminal trial jury may infer that the criminal suspect had the intent to commit a crime inside a structure, conveyance, building, or car if the entering or attempted entering was done stealthily and without the consent of the owner or occupant. The entry need not be the whole body of the criminal suspect to achieve the criminal violation. It is sufficient if the criminal suspect extends any part of the body far enough into the structure, conveyance, building, or car to commit the criminal offense. If the criminal suspect had permission or consent to enter a structure, conveyance, building, or car owned by or in the possession of the victim, but the criminal suspect, after entering, remained therein either surreptitiously and with the intent to commit a criminal offense inside the structure, conveyance, building, or car, or after permission to remain had been withdrawn, the criminal suspect had the criminal intent to commit an offense inside the structure, conveyance, building, or car, or if the criminal suspect remained therein with the intent to commit or attempt to commit a forcible felony, then the criminal suspect committed burglary.

The criminal intent with which a criminal act is done is an operation of the mind and, therefore, not always capable of direct and positive proof. Criminal intent may be established by circumstantial evidence like any other fact in a case. Even though an unlawful entering or remaining in a structure, conveyance, building, or car is proved, if the evidence does not establish that it was done with the criminal intent to commit an offense, then the criminal suspect must be found not guilty of burglary. Proof of unexplained possession by the criminally accused of property recently stolen by means of a burglary may justify a criminal conviction of burglary with criminal intent to steal that property if the circumstances of the burglary and of the possession of the stolen property, when considered in the light of all evidence in the criminal case, convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the criminal suspect committed the burglary.

A structure is any building of any kind, either temporary or permanent, that has a roof over it, and the enclosed space of ground and outbuildings immediately surrounding that structure. A conveyance is any motor vehicle, ship, vessel, railroad car, trailer, aircraft, or sleeping car, and to enter a conveyance includes taking apart any portion of the conveyance. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, the criminal suspect criminally assaulted any person. An assault is an intentional and unlawful threat either by word or act to do violence to another at a time when the criminal suspect appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat and his or her act created a well-founded fear in the other person that the violence was about to take place. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, the criminal suspect criminally battered any person. A battery is an actual and intentional touching or striking of another person against that person’s will or the intentional causing of bodily harm to another person.

If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, the criminal suspect was armed or armed himself or herself within the structure, conveyance, building, or car with explosives or a dangerous weapon, because if he or she did have explosives or a weapon, then he or she could be found guilty of Armed Burglary. An explosive is any chemical compound or mixture that has the property of yielding readily to combustion or oxidation upon application of heat, flame, or shock, including but not limited to dynamite, nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene, or ammonium nitrate when combined with other ingredients to form an explosive mixture, blasting caps, and detonators. A dangerous weapon is any weapon that, taking into account the manner in which it is used, is likely to produce death or great bodily harm. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether the structure entered or remained in was a dwelling. If so, then the criminal suspect could be found guilty of armed burglary of a dwelling. A dwelling is a building or conveyance of any kind, including any attached porch, whether such building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, which has a roof over it and is designed to be occupied by people lodging therein at night, together with the enclosed space of ground and outbuildings immediately surrounding it. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, there was a human being in the structure, conveyance, building, or car at the time he or she or entered or remained in the structure, conveyance, building, or car. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, the criminal suspect entered a dwelling or structure and used a motor vehicle as an instrumentality, other than merely as a getaway vehicle, to assist in committing the offense, and thereby damaged the dwelling or structure, or caused damage to the dwelling or structure or property within the dwelling or structure, in excess of $1,000. If the criminal suspect is found guilty of burglary, the jury must also determine if the State Attorney has proved beyond a reasonable doubt whether, in the course of committing the burglary, the structure, conveyance, building, or car was within an area that the governor had declared was subject to a state of emergency under Chapter 252 of the “State Emergency Management Act.” An act is committed “in the course of committing” if it occurs in the attempt to commit the criminal offense or in flight after the attempt or commission.

If you have been charged with violating these criminal laws in Miami Dade County, Fort Lauderdale, or Broward County, call Criminal Defense Attorney Kenneth P. Hassett of Hassett and Associates, P.A. He is a criminal defense attorney who practices criminal law in the greater Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas, including all of Miami Dade County and Broward County. He has been in practice as a criminal defense lawyer in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and Miami Dade County since 1991. Hassett and Associates, P.A. is a criminal defense attorney firm that offers a free consultation 24 hours per day seven days per week to discuss the rights of criminal suspects and defendants charged with criminal offenses.

810.02 Burglary.

Disclaimer

The information on this page does not represent legal advice. Florida Statues obtained from Online Sunshine, www.leg.state.fl.us, the official site of the Florida Legislature. Because the law is continually changing, some of the provisions contained herein may be out of date. It is always wise to seek counsel from an experienced Fort Lauderdale Armed Burglary Lawyer like Kenneth Hassett.

If you have been charged as an Accessory After the Fact or a Principal in the First Degree to a criminal offense in Broward or Miami-Dade County, call Criminal Defense Attorney Kenneth P. Hassett.