Burglary

Burglary is a common charge in state court, which often raises challenging issues for the defense. In general, burglary means entering a structure – commercial or residential – with the intention of committing an offense inside. In one of the most common scenarios, burglary is charged along with other theft offenses, such as when someone is alleged to have entered a home to steal the occupants’ possessions.

In typical burglary cases, the identity of the perpetrator is often a key question. Evidence in the form of surveillance footage, fingerprints, and DNA analysis are often central to this issue. Often, however, burglary cases raise complicated issues that have nothing to do with criminality. For example, many people arrested for burglary offenses have entered someone else’s property in the midst of a mental-health crisis. Sometimes these people may not realize where they are; other times, they may act as though they are in their own home and do things like go through the refrigerator. In such instances, the person’s mental state, and capacity to understand in the moment, are the key issues for the defense.

IredaleRoth has handled all kinds of burglary cases. We have defended cases in which the identity of the perpetrator was the key issue, and we have effectively challenged evidence like DNA and fingerprints. In others, we have navigated the delicate and complicated questions of a client’s mental health, in scenarios involving serious bipolar and schizophrenic episodes. And in still others, we have defended clients who were alleged to have entered homes and committed exceptionally dangerous acts. We have had substantial success persuading prosecutors to agree to resolutions that benefitted our clients and avoided serious convictions.

When facing a burglary case, common questions will often include the following:

• The particular circumstances of the alleged offense can vary, and the severity of the charge will often turn on them. These cases will often turn on whether the structure was a residence or a commercial building, whether anyone was inside at the time, and what the alleged perpetrator intended to do inside. Prosecutors take all burglary cases very seriously, but these factors will often inform how aggressively they charge a case and pursue conviction.

• The presence of mental-health issues is commonly a key consideration when assessing whether the alleged perpetrator is truly culpable. This requires the ability to assess and demonstrate the presence of genuine issues, and to persuade prosecutors to view the case as a mental-health matter, not a criminal one.