Burglary is not simply being somewhere you should not be. The State has to prove you went in to commit a crime. That hidden element is where many burglary cases are won.
Call 904-383-7448Burglary in Florida, under section 810.02, Florida Statutes, has two parts: an unlawful entry into a structure, dwelling, or conveyance, and the intent to commit an offense inside. Both are required. Walking somewhere uninvited is trespass; going in to commit a crime is burglary. That difference can move a case from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by years in prison.
If you are charged with burglary, the smartest first step is silence and a phone call. Call 904-383-7448. Graham W. Syfert has defended felony cases across Northeast Florida since 2007.
Section 810.02 defines burglary as entering a dwelling, a structure, or a conveyance with the intent to commit an offense inside, unless the place was open to the public or the person was licensed or invited to enter. It also covers remaining in a place after permission has been withdrawn, with the same criminal intent. Two ideas do the heavy lifting. The first is unlawful entry: the person must not have had permission to be there. The second, and the one juries hear least about until trial, is intent. The State must prove the person entered intending to commit a crime inside. An entry by accident, an entry the person believed was permitted, or an entry with no criminal purpose at all is not burglary, even if a trespass occurred. Because intent lives inside someone's head, the State usually tries to prove it by circumstances, and circumstances can be read more than one way.
The statute treats different places differently, and the type of place drives the degree of the charge. A "dwelling" is a building of any kind designed for people to live in, together with its enclosed surrounding land. A "structure" is a building of any other kind, and a "conveyance" includes a car, truck, boat, trailer, or similar vehicle. Whether a place is occupied also matters. These distinctions are not technicalities; they decide how much prison time a person faces, so getting the classification right is part of the defense.
Burglary is graded by the danger involved. Burglary of an unoccupied structure or an unoccupied conveyance is a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years under section 775.082, Florida Statutes. Burglary of a dwelling, or of an occupied structure or conveyance, is a second-degree felony, carrying up to fifteen years. Burglary rises to a first-degree felony, punishable by a term up to life, when in the course of the offense the person becomes armed with a weapon, commits an assault or battery, or uses a motor vehicle to cause damage or enters certain occupied premises. The fines that accompany these felonies come from section 775.083. Because the degree turns on facts like whether anyone was home and whether a weapon was present, those facts are worth fighting over.
The most common pressure point is intent. If the person had a reason to be where he was, believed he was allowed in, or simply had no plan to commit a crime when he entered, the burglary theory weakens even when something else went wrong. Identity is another. Burglaries are often charged on the strength of a brief eyewitness glimpse, a partial fingerprint, or a piece of recovered property, and each of those can be tested. Fingerprints can be old or explained, recovered property can have an innocent path into someone's hands, and eyewitness identifications can be shaped by a suggestive lineup. A defense reads the discovery closely, deposes the witnesses, examines how any forensic evidence was collected, and looks hard at whether the State can prove the entry was unlawful and the intent was criminal. Where the proof falls short on either element, the right charge may be trespass, or no charge at all.
Related: Felony & Violent Crimes overview · Robbery Defense · Theft & Grand Theft Defense
Under section 810.02, the State must prove an unlawful entry into a structure, dwelling, or conveyance, and the intent to commit an offense inside. Unlawful entry alone is trespass, not burglary.
It depends on the degree. Burglary of an unoccupied structure or conveyance is a third-degree felony. Burglary of a dwelling or an occupied place is a second-degree felony. It rises to a first-degree felony, up to life, when the person is armed or commits an assault or battery.
Often. If the person entered by mistake, believed he had permission, or had no intent to commit a crime, the burglary theory may fail even where a trespass occurred. Because intent is inferred from circumstances, it can be argued more than one way.
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Call 904-383-7448Graham W. Syfert, Esq., P.A. · Jacksonville, Florida
Serving Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties