Opinion ID: 844169
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the crime of burglary

Text: Under the common law, burglary was an offense against a landholder‟s right of habitation. (3 LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law (2d ed. 2003) p. 212; Perkins & Boyce, Criminal Law (3d ed. 1982) p. 255.) The crime was defined as “the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony.” (3 LaFave, supra, at pp. 205-206.) The word “dwelling” encompassed not only a building actually used for habitation but also any structure that was “within the curtilage or courtyard surrounding the house” and used in connection with the house. (Perkins & Boyce, supra, at p. 259.) The concern underlying the offense of burglary was that an intruder‟s entry into the curtilage of a dwelling would pose a “human risk,” as “the dweller or some member of his household might hear a prowler” and then “go to investigate.” (Id. at p. 260.)
In 1872, the California Legislature drew upon the common law concepts in codifying the crime of burglary. Section 459 now states that a “person who enters any . . . building . . . with intent to commit . . . larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary.” Section 460 sets out two degrees of burglary: Burglary of an inhabited dwelling (residential burglary) is burglary of the first degree. (Id., subd. (a).) “All 3 other kinds of burglary are of the second degree.” (Id., subd. (b).) As under the common law, however, the essence of burglary is “ „ “an entry which invades a possessory interest in a building.” ‟ ” (Valencia, supra, 28 Cal.4th at p. 7; accord, Magness v. Superior Court (2012) 54 Cal.4th 270, 277.)