Q: If a home owner invited me to stay the night and then I got back after they went to work. Is that proof of burglary?
They invited me to stay the night and the next the morning when they went to work, they gave me VERBAL consent saying I was allowed to be there while they were gone. She claims she didn’t and is now claiming she is missing a couple thousand dollars worth of jewelry. (Which was never found on me or in my possession. Or found anywhere. Ever.) Now I’m being charged with level 4 burglary and theft. The ONLY evidence they have on me, is a security camera from 4 houses down that shows me entering the home through an UNLOCKED garage door. That she had left unlocked for me.
A:
I cannot give you legal advice without doing a conflict check in my firm, but I can direct you to the statute. To be convicted of burglary the State would need to prove a person was unlawfully in the home, and they also need to prove the person's intent to commit another crime. Here is the statute language:
(2) An actor commits burglary if the actor enters or remains unlawfully in a building or any portion of a building with intent to commit:
(a) a felony;
(b) theft;
(c) an assault on any person;
(d) lewdness, in violation of Section 76-9-702;
(e) sexual battery, in violation of Section 76-9-702.1;
(f) lewdness involving a child, in violation of Section 76-9-702.5; or
(g) voyeurism, in violation of Section 76-9-702.7.
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