Opinion ID: 1833474
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Second-Degree Burglary as a Forcible Felony or Crime of a Similar Gravity.

Text: The State concedes that second-degree burglary is not listed as a forcible felony in the statutory definition of that term. Iowa Code section 702.11 provides this definition: A  forcible felony  is any felonious child endangerment, assault, murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery, arson in the first degree, or burglary in the first degree. (Emphasis added.) The State argues that, while second-degree burglary is not included in this laundry list, it should nevertheless qualify as a predicate for the application of section 902.11 because it is a crime of a similar gravity. A crime of a similar gravity is not defined in the Code, but we think it does not include second-degree burglary. First, it is obvious that second-degree burglary was not considered by the legislature to be of a gravity similar to that of first-degree burglary. If it had, it would simply have provided that burglary is a forcible felony without specifying only first-degree burglary. Moreover, the statutory list of forcible felonies under Iowa Code section 702.11 includes only crimes that involve a risk to persons (child endangerment, assault, murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, first-degree arson, and first-degree burglary). The crime of second-degree burglary, as defined in 1987 when the conviction occurred, did not involve an element of victim risk. See Iowa Code §§ 713.3, 713.5 (1987) (first-degree burglary committed if person possesses dangerous device or weapon or inflicts injury on another; second-degree burglary is [a]ll burglary which is not burglary in the first degree). We conclude that the 1987 conviction for second-degree burglary did not involve the type of victim risk contemplated by the statutory definition of a forcible felony or a crime of a similar gravity. The court erred in concluding otherwise. We therefore vacate the sentence for first-degree burglary and remand for resentencing.