Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Commercial Burglary

California has a strange burglary law. Most of us think of burglary as involving "breaking and entering" or at least some sort of sneaky or dishonest entry, and that's the law in most states. In California, if you enter a building with the intent to do a crime in the building, that's burglary. If it is a commercial building, it's commercial burglary.

In other words, if you and I walk into a store, and you intend to shoplift, or pass a bad check, or beat somebody up in the building, you have already committed burglary. Even if you don't end up doing the crime you planned to do, just entering with intent to do it is enough. (Of course, if you don't do the crime, you're not likely to get arrested.)

DAs in California often use this little quirk in the law to pile up charges. A client of mine who passed ten bad checks in ten stores one day was charged with ten counts of forgery (one for each check)and ten counts of burglary (one for each store).

The penalty for commercial burglary is up to three years, but it can be as little as probation, depending on the circumstances, the defendant's prior record, the prosecutor, the judge, and the skill of the defense attorney.

Re: Commercial Burglary

There are factors that need to be taken into consideration. Do you have any priors? Is this a probation violation? Which jurisdiction is this in? There are some jurisdictions which are more conversative than others. These factors all need to be taken into consideration.

The penalty for commercial burglary is up to three years, but it can be as little as probation, depending on the circumstances, the defendant's prior record, the prosecutor, the judge, and the skill of the defense attorney.