There are 2 kinds of burglary. The first one is first-degree residential burglary, which is recognized as a felony. It refers to people which do it in places that people live – house, apartment, even boats. There are also 3 sentencing for this. From 2 to 6 years in state prison, fines which get up to $10,000 and probation will most likely not be offered.
The second one is named commercial burglary and it takes place in locations which are inhabitable. This one can be charged with a felony or a misdemeanour. You might wanna have some friends which are lawyers with relations for this one. If you’re charged with a felony, you can get from 16 months to 3 years in prison, fines which get up to $10,000. If you’re charged with misdemeanour, you can get up to one year in county jail and $1,000 in fines.
But let’s not forget about the exceptions.
According to the California Penal Code 459, you’ll be charged with more (3, 5 or 7) years in state prison if you used explosives or torches. Also, 3 to 6 years if “great bodily injury” was imposed. 1 to 2 years if the first-degree burglary was committed by a person who was over 65 or under 14 of age, blind or deaf or mentally disabled.
Prosecuting Burglary Cases
To prosecute a burglary case, a person needs to prove that you were the one committing the felony because, without it, there’s no way they can charge you for this.
Burglary can be defined as intending to commit a felony by entering a building. By entering, we mean any part of the body which crosses the limit of a structure, a building, while that structured is controlled by someone else. Time cannot be used as an excuse with this one.
The prosecutor has to prove that you entered a building with intention to commit a crime. It doesn’t matter if you actually did it or not.
Defending Burglary Cases
A criminal defence attorney should be good for you. If your attorney shows that there is no evidence that you had the intention to commit this felony, they won’t be able to convict you.
Also, if your attorney can prove that you took something that you believed it was truly yours, they cannot convict you of burglary or trespassing.
If he thinks about having consent, then he’s a good one. If the structure is proved to be yours, your defence becomes viable. But if you entered another person’s property, you may have some problems there.
If you are really innocent, then your attorney should get all the evidence to show the prosecutor that it’s true and you did not commit that crime.
You really need to choose your attorney very carefully, because these situations can be tricky. Your attorney needs to know the system like the palm of his hand.
