Opinion ID: 53035
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State Offense

Text: Petitioner Irwin was arrested and charged in Florida state court with burglary of a conveyance and petit theft after the victim, Roderick DeLacerna, identified Irwin at the crime scene as the perpetrator. At about 2:30 a.m. on December 31, 1998, the victim DeLacerna was awakened by a loud noise outside his apartment. DeLacerna looked out his bedroom window and saw an unknown man at the driver’s side window of DeLacerna’s car about twenty feet away. The man reached inside DeLacerna’s car and then walked out of DeLacerna’s range of vision approximately two or three times. DeLacerna observed the man for approximately five minutes, during which time he called 911 and waited for the police to arrive. According to DeLacerna, the man wore a green shirt and long pants, was five feet ten or eleven inches tall and had a light beard. Upon arrival, the police confronted and detained several individuals in and near a red truck and a white truck. Petitioner Irwin, who matched DeLacerna’s description of the perpetrator, was standing outside the white truck and was 2 wearing a green shirt and jeans. When police brought Irwin to DeLacerna about an hour later, DeLacerna identified Irwin as the man he had seen breaking into his car.