Court Opinion

ID: 9846883
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:49:55.229672+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:56.637455
License: Public Domain

GREENE, Judge,
dissenting.
Because I believe the McBryde inference is inapplicable in this case, I respectfully dissent. While I agree with the majority that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the issue of voluntary intoxication, I do not reach this issue in my analysis.
In proving the elements of the crime of burglary, the State may attempt to rely on the McBryde inference to establish the defendant’s intent to commit larceny. State v. McBryde, 97 N.C. 393, 396-97, 1 S.E. 925, 927 (1887). In McBryde, our Supreme Court stated a defendant’s entry into a dwelling, at night time, coupled with the defendant’s subsequent flight upon discovery “may warrant a reasonable inference of *679guilty intent,” the most common being the intent to steal. Id. This inference, however, only applies “in the absence of any other proof, or evidence of other intent, and with no explanatory facts or circumstances.” Id. at 397, 1 S.E. at 927 (emphasis added). Thus, if there is any evidence tending to show the defendant lacked the requisite intent, the State cannot overcome a challenge for insufficiency of the evidence by resting on the McBryde inference.1. In analyzing the applicability of the McBryde inference, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant because use of the inference greatly lowers the otherwise high burden of proof the State must meet in a criminal prosecution. See, e.g., State v. Lamson, 75 N.C. App. 132, 135, 330 S.E.2d 68, 70 (1985) (considering only the defendant’s evidence, not the State’s inculpatory evidence, in deciding applicability of McBryde inference).
In this case, the evidence establishes defendant was heavily intoxicated on the night of the alleged burglary. When the victim discovered defendant in her home, she saw no indication he “had taken anything or was attempting to take anything.” The evidence further indicates the victim’s house as being situated within three blocks of three “drink houses” and between defendant’s home and two of those “drink houses.” This circumstantial evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to defendant, is some evidence supporting a reasonable inference defendant mistakenly entered the victim’s house because he was too intoxicated to distinguish between the victim’s house and his home or the nearby “drink houses.” As the McBryde inference thus did not apply and the State did not present any evidence of intent to commit larceny, defendant’s motion to dismiss the burglary charge should have been granted. Furthermore, as the jury found the existence of all the elements of the lesser-included offense of misdemeanor breaking or entering, this case should be remanded for entry of judgment and sentencing on the crime of misdemeanor breaking or entering. See State v. Lawrence, 352 N.C. 1, 18, 530 S.E.2d 807, 818 (2000) (misdemeanor breaking or entering, a lesser-included offense of first-degree burglary, does not require intent to commit a felony within the dwelling). Because of the need to remand this case, I do not address whether the State’s statements to the jury were improper.

. Whether the McBryde inference applies in a given case is a preliminary analysis that occurs before the court engages in the traditional consideration of the State’s evidence to determine whether, seen in the light most favorable to the State, it is substantial as to each element of the offense charged.