Burglary Defense Lawyer in Corona
What Is Burglary in California?
Burglary and robbery are two different crimes. Generally speaking, robbery
is committed when an individual unlawfully takes something that belongs
to someone else. Robbery is only committed if the individual intends to
keep what they have taken. On the other hand, burglary occurs when an
individual wrongfully enters someone else's home with the intention to
commit a crime. For example, burglary might be committed when an individual
breaks into an apartment with the intention of stealing the resident's jewelry.
A robbery conviction relies on the intention of the perpetrator. The suspect
must specifically intend on taking and keeping something that doesn't
belong to him/her. When individuals take something that doesn't belong
to them with the intention of keeping it, they may have committed robbery.
If the suspect can demonstrate that he/he didn't intend on keeping the
item, he/she may not be convicted of robbery. Robbery is considered a
felony. Additionally, robbery can only be committed in the presence of
the person who owns the property.
In other words, if one individual steals something form another person
when they aren't there, robbery has not been committed. Usually, property
must be taken from a reasonable distance to qualify robbery. Thus, if
an item is stolen from someone's house when he/she is in the other, the
perpetrator may still be accused of committing robbery. However, if the
owner of the property isn't in the house, the perpetrator may be guilty
of a different crime. Unlike robbery, burglary occurs when an individual
intends on creating a theft crime inside another person's dwelling.
For example, if an individual breaks into his friend's house to make an
emergency phone call but decided to steal some jewelry while inside, he/she
may not be guilty of burglary. If caught, the suspect may be accused of
theft instead. It is easy to confuse larceny and burglary with each other.
Unlike burglary, larceny does not require that the individual broke into
a structure. In order to be convicted of burglary, law enforcement must
be able to demonstrate forceful entry of someone else's home or building.
Larceny does not require this; and is usually considered a lesser offense
than burglary or robbery.
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