Opinion ID: 1936045
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence First Degree Burglary

Text: Section 826 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code provides, in pertinent part, that [a] person is guilty of burglary in the first degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling at night .... 11 Del.C. § 826 (emphasis added). Night is defined as the period between 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise. 11 Del.C. § 829(c). Walls argues that his conviction for First Degree Burglary must be vacated because the State failed to produce direct testimony that the burglary occurred thirty minutes after sunset. In support of his argument, Walls relies on Blankenship v. State, Del. Supr., 447 A.2d 428 (1982). In Blankenship, the victim testified that the burglary took place at 5:12 A.M. The defendant's father testified that the sun was just beginning to rise at 5:45 A.M. when his son came home. The State did not introduce evidence of the official time of sunrise on the date of the offense charged. This Court held that the record did not support a conviction of First Degree Burglary because the State did not carry its burden of proving the at night element of First Degree Burglary. Id. at 433. In its case against Walls, the State introduced a report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for the purpose of establishing the weather conditions and wind chill factor on December 14, 1985. This report recorded the time of sunset on the day in question to be 4:39 P.M. Mr. Pancoast testified that the burglary at his home took place at approximately 8:45 P.M. on December 14, 1985. Mr. Pancoast also testified that it had been dark outside for approximately two hours. We conclude that a rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State, could have found Walls guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of First Degree Burglary. Davis v. State, 453 A.2d at 803. We find Walls' argument to the contrary to be without merit.