Burglary - Next Generation Bar Exam
- When must the intent to commit a felony exist for burglary?
- At the time of the breaking and entering. Intent formed after entry does not make the entry burglary.
- What is the relationship between burglary and the felony committed inside?
- They do not merge; the defendant may be convicted of both. Burglary is complete on entry with the required intent.
- How do modern statutes typically broaden common-law burglary?
- By covering any structure, at any time, with intent to commit any crime, and including unlawfully remaining. Many statutes eliminate the breaking requirement.
- What constitutes an entry for burglary?
- Intrusion of any part of the body, or of an instrument used to commit the intended felony. Reaching a hand through a window is enough.
- What structure qualifies as a dwelling for common-law burglary?
- One regularly used for sleeping, even if temporarily unoccupied. A vacation home remains a dwelling while the occupants are away.
- At night, a man falsely claims to be a gas inspector, is admitted to a house, and steals jewelry as he planned. What element does the deception satisfy?
- The breaking element, through constructive breaking by fraud. Entry obtained by fraud is treated as a breaking.
- What are the elements of common-law burglary?
- Breaking and entering the dwelling of another at nighttime with intent to commit a felony therein. Each element, including the nighttime requirement, had to be proved at common law.
- At night, a man opens a neighbor's unlocked door to get out of the rain, enters, and then decides to steal a laptop. Why is he not guilty of common-law burglary?
- He did not intend to commit a felony when he entered. Opening the closed door was a breaking, but the intent arose only after entry.
- What is the effect of the occupant's consent to entry on the breaking element?
- Entry with consent is not a breaking, unless the defendant enters an area beyond the consent. Consent obtained by fraud is a constructive breaking.
- What constitutes a breaking for burglary?
- Creating or enlarging an opening, or a constructive breaking by fraud, threat, or conspiracy. Entry through an already open door or window was not a breaking at common law.