Opinion ID: 1243361
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: directed verdict-first degree burglary

Text: Stone asserts he was entitled to a directed verdict on the charge of burglary as there was no evidence he entered Ruth Griffith's dwelling. We disagree. Under S.C.Code Ann. § 16-11-311(A)(Supp.2001), a person is guilty of burglary in the first degree if the person enters a dwelling without consent and with intent to commit a crime in the dwelling, and the entering is accompanied by an aggravating circumstance. For purposes of burglary, a dwelling house is defined by S.C.Code Ann. § 16-11-10 (1985) as follows: With respect to the crimes of burglary and arson and to all criminal offenses which are constituted or aggravated by being committed in a dwelling house, any house, outhouse, apartment, building, erection, shed or box in which there sleeps a proprietor, tenant, watchman, clerk, laborer or person who lodges there with a view to the protection of property shall be deemed a dwelling house, and of such a dwelling house or of any other dwelling house all houses, outhouses, buildings, sheds and erections which are within two hundred yards of it and are appurtenant to it or to the same establishment of which it is an appurtenance shall be deemed parcels. A dwelling also means the living quarters of a building which is used or normally used for sleeping, living, or lodging by a person. S.C.Code Ann. § 16-11-310 (Supp.2001). We find Griffith's screened porch meets the statutory definition of a dwelling. The porch is attached to the left side of Griffith's house. It has three concrete block stairs going up to it, and appears from photographs to be very small, approximately four feet on each side, with wood panels which extend two-thirds of the way up on two sides, and a screened door on the third side. The porch leads into and out of the laundry room and is used primarily to store wood and paint cans. Griffith uses the porch for ingress and egress to her clothesline outside. We find the screened porch is appurtenant, and is used for the protection of Griffith's property (paint and wood) so as to come within the definition of a dwelling. We have not previously addressed, under the current burglary statute, whether a fully enclosed screened porch is a dwelling within the meaning of section 16-11-10. In the 1913 case of State v. Puckett, 95 S.C. 114, 78 S.E. 737 (1913), we addressed whether the defendant could be convicted of burglary for entering an unenclosed piazza, which had a two and one-half foot balustrade, and was open on the top 6-7 feet, with a picket gate on each end to keep out chickens and dogs. Under the facts of the case, the Court held the evidence did not show the piazza was such a part of the dwelling house as was contemplated by law to make it an offense to enter in the nighttime against the security of the dwelling house. [2] However, at the time Puckett was decided, common law required a breaking in order to establish the offense of burglary. The offense of burglary no longer requires such a breaking. Further, unlike Puckett, the porch here was completely enclosed and was utilized for the protection of Griffith's property. We find these factors sufficient to demonstrate the porch was part of Griffith's dwelling. Furthermore, numerous courts in other jurisdictions have held screened porches qualify as part of a dwelling for purposes of burglary statutes. See State v. Bordley, 2000 WL 706788 (Del.Super.2000); State v. Jenkins 741 S.W.2d 767, 768-770 (Mo.Ct.App.1987) (upholding burglary conviction for entry into enclosed screen porch despite unsuccessful attempt to open inner door to home); Davis v. State, 938 P.2d 1076 (Alaska App.1997); People v. Wise, 25 Cal.App.4th 339, 30 Cal.Rptr.2d 413, 416-18 (1994); Johnson v. Commonwealth, 875 S.W.2d 105, 106-07 (Ky.App.1994); People v. McIntyre, 218 Ill.App.3d 479, 161 Ill.Dec. 187, 578 N.E.2d 314 (1991) (screened porch attached to house was part of living quarters and thus was a dwelling); State v. Lawrence, 572 So.2d 276, 278-79 (La.App.1990)(particular back porch was part of the residence; porch was fully enclosed screened porch underneath the main roof); State v. Watts, 76 N.C.App. 656, 334 S.E.2d 68, 70 (1985); People v. Lewoc, 101 A.D.2d 927, 475 N.Y.S.2d 933, 934 (1984)(fully enclosed porch, with windows and walls of wooden construction running length of the house); State v. Gatewood, 169 Kan. 679, 221 P.2d 392 (1950) (porch which was screened in and connected to kitchen by door and window). Similarly, other courts have held appurtenant structures to a home, even if not directly accessible from the home, are nonetheless part of the dwelling as contemplated by burglary statutes. See State v. Maykoski, 583 N.W.2d 587 (Minn.1998) (basement); People v. Ingram, 40 Cal.App.4th 1397, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 256 (5th Dist.1995) (garage attached to house, even though not connected by an inside doorway to the inhabited part of house); People v. Moreno, 158 Cal.App.3d 109, 204 Cal.Rptr. 17 (1984)(given that garage was under the same roof, functionally interconnected with, and immediately contiguous to other portions of the house, simple logic would suffer were we to leap over this interrelationship to a conclusion that a garage is not part of a dwelling because no inside entrance connects the two). We find the screened porch is part of the dwelling. Accordingly, Stone was not entitled to a directed verdict.