Suddenly
No Punting
That doesn't appear to be precisely true according to the below, I'll illustrate here in a second what I mean...LTC8K6 said:In Florida, merely entering the building is considered burglary. You don't have to take anything or attempt to take anything. The mere fact of stealthily entering the building makes you a burglar.
As I recall they maybe have a seperate statute? I do recall O.J. being charged and acquitted of burglary of an automobile a few years ago...
Burglary also applies to cars in Florida.
810.07 Prima facie evidence of intent.--
(1) In a trial on the charge of burglary, proof of the entering of such structure or conveyance at any time stealthily and without consent of the owner or occupant thereof is prima facie evidence of entering with intent to commit an offense.
(2) In a trial on the charge of attempted burglary, proof of the attempt to enter such structure or conveyance at any time stealthily and without the consent of the owner or occupant thereof is prima facie evidence of attempting to enter with intent to commit an offense.
Reading closely, this suggests that the intent to commit an offense therein is still an element of burglary in Florida. What this statue does is allow the entry itself to suffice as proof of the intent to commit an offense, which as a practical matter shifts the burden to the defense to produce evidence otherwise, that maybe the defendant just wanted to get out of the rain.
So they still have to prove it, but the legislature gives them a hand by making the entry serve as evidence of intent. "Prima Facie Evidence" can be loosely translated into English as "Evidence good enough to not require an appeals court to overturn the verdict for lack of evidence if the jury buys it and convicts."
Im my State, unlike Florida, the state has to come up with something that indicates intent in addition to the entry. Usually this isn't a problem, but sometimes it is important. Consider a case where some stupid kid broke into a house and the only real defense was that he did it just for fun (thus no intent to commit a further crime). If the state has trouble identifying anything stolen, or any other proof of intent to commit a crime while inside, they will struggle to meet their burden to prove a prima facie case, that is supply evidence competent to prove all the elements of a burglary. If they cannot meet this burden, a judge will dismiss after the state's portion of the case.
In Florida, the state has no such problem. The break in is proof of intent enough to meet the burden, so it is up to the defendant to present counter-evidence to convince a jury that intent is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

