Court Opinion

ID: 9737844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:35:30.864668+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:01.775368
License: Public Domain

WUEST, Justice.
Duane Derby (Derby) appeals a judgment of conviction of third-degree burglary. We affirm.
The facts are not disputed: Sometime between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on August 24, 1989, Derby and two companions removed a window of the Rau-ville Bar and Cafe in Rauville, South Dakota. Derby entered the business through the window opening and unlocked one of the Bar’s doors for his companions. The intruders stole several cases of beer and a number of other items regularly sold in the Bar’s business. Derby contends that he cannot be convicted of third-degree burglary because he stole goods which are offered for sale by the Rauville Bar and Cafe; i.e., his actions constituted shoplifting or retail theft. We are unpersuaded.
Third-degree burglary is committed by:
Any person who enters an unoccupied structure, with intent to commit any crime other than the act of shoplifting or retail theft as described in chapter 22-30A constituting a misdemeanor, ...
SDCL 22-32-8. The act of shoplifting or retail theft (which in the court’s view are one and the same for purposes of SDCL 22-32-8) is committed by an individual:
who takes possession of any goods, wares or merchandise displayed or offered for sale by any store or other mercantile establishment without the consent of the owner or seller and with the intention of converting the goods to his own use without having paid the purchase price ...
SDCL 22-30A-19.1. The trial court distinguished shoplifting and retail theft from burglary on the basis of the entry involved. The trial court understood shoplifting to *513occur as a result of lawful entry, whereas burglary required unlawful entry. It is clear that Derby’s entry into the Bar was unauthorized, however, it is not clear that the nature of the entry is dispositive to a charge of burglary.
In State v. Blair, 273 N.W.2d 187 (S.D.1979) (Zastrow, J., dissenting), the defendant and his accomplice entered a twenty-four hour laundromat and broke into the washing machine coin boxes and a pop machine. Blair was convicted of third-degree burglary, and this court affirmed, holding that consent to enter the laundromat was irrelevant. See also State v. Erdmann, 292 N.W.2d 97 (S.D.1980) (follows Blair).
The Blair decision was revisited in In the Matter of T.J.E., 426 N.W.2d 23 (S.D.1988) (Henderson, J., specially concurring). In Matter of T.J.E., an eleven-year-old child (T.J.E.) entered a retail store during business hours and, while in the store, ate a piece of candy, then left without paying for it. Seeking to have T.J.E. adjudicated a delinquent, the state filed a petition alleging her acts constituted second-degree burglary. At the time of her adjudication, second-degree burglary was committed by:
Any person who enters or remains in an occupied structure with intent to commit any crime therein under circumstances not amounting to first-degree burglary,
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SDCL 22-32-3 (1988). We interpreted the word “remains” in this statute to require unlawful or unauthorized presence in the structure. Matter of T.J.E., 426 N.W.2d at 25. The apparent inconsistency of requiring unauthorized presence for second-degree burglary and not requiring unauthorized entry for third-degree burglary, as initially recognized in Blair, was resolved by reasoning that:
Where a person enters a business place open to the general public with the intent to commit a crime therein, he enters without invitation and is not one of the public invited or entitled to enter the structure.
Matter of T.J.E., 426 N.W.2d at 25. Accord People v. Barry, 94 Cal. 481, 29 P. 1026, 1027 (1892) (Beatty, C.J., dissenting; DeHaven, J., concurring). Such reasoning is consonant with the accepted principle that “burglary must be committed by a person who has no right to be in the building or structure burglarized.” Matter of T.J.E., 426 N.W.2d at 24. See People v. Gauze, 15 Cal.3d 709, 125 Cal.Rptr. 773, 775, 542 P.2d 1365, 1367 (1975). See also State v. Gardner, 429 N.W.2d 60, 61 (S.D.1988) (Henderson, J., concurring). We, therefore, acknowledge unlawful or unauthorized entry into a structure as an element of third-degree burglary.
Derby’s entry into the Rauville Bar and Cafe was clearly unauthorized: access to the business was gained only after removing a window of the establishment after business hours. We acknowledge the trial court’s reliance upon Derby’s unlawful entry as foundation for his conviction and hold the unauthorized nature of Derby’s entry in this case sufficient to affirm his conviction.
Judgment affirmed.
MILLER, C.J., and, MORGAN and SABERS, JJ., concur.
HENDERSON, J., specially concurs.