I sat on a jury once that acquitted a drunk for walking in the unlocked back door of a bar on North Monroe Street in Tallahassee to investigate an illegal after-hours private party for regular customers. He heard people having a good time, music and entered a screen door and was met by a staff member who was in the back room to get more liquor.
We could not find criminal intent. We could find criminal behavior by the bar, but that was irrelevant to the case. A. Leon Polhill FlaNative1845 330 NW 45th Street Gainesville, FL 32607 (352) 367-4642 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Vega Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 10:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] [SUN]: Prospect Wall charged with breaking and entering While pretty far afield, I am not certain that it is always a crime. Certain defenses could apply, necessity and duress come to mind. IIRC, there may be an intent element as well. I recall a law school exam where the alleged trespasser was drunk out of his mind, didn't know what he was doing, walked into the wrong house, had a drink of water and then passed out on the kitchen floor. I would have to have a little sympathy for someone whose bladder was about to burst and entered an unlocked and unoccupied home simply for the purpose of using the toilet, and promptly left. -Zeb On May 5, 2009, at 10:14 PM, Rob Alexander wrote: Are you saying that, if you leave your front door unlocked, and a stranger walks into your home, that it is not trespass unless you posted signs? Of course, not. You are trespassing if you enter a dwelling without permission of the owner. In this case, breaking and entering is what they did, but breaking and entering is not the crime itself, it is an element of a crime. And they did do that. It does not require you to 'break' anything in the sense of doing damage; even opening an unlocked door, or pushing a door further open, counts as the 'breaking' part. If you 'break and enter' with the intent to commit a crime, then you have committed burglary, a felony. If you 'break and enter' without the intent to commit a crime, then you have committed trespass, a misdemeanor. It seems pretty clear that these guys did the latter and that's what they've been charged with. As has been said before, most of us have probably done that with an empty house sometime in our lives. I was considerably younger than Wall the last time I did, but while it was a boneheaded thing to do, it's not like it makes him a hardened criminal. It would probably be a good time for him to start growing up, though. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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