Burglary and theft offenses are often difficult charges that can land you in jail for a prolonged period, or at least give you sizeable probation terms. These crimes often go together, with defendants being charged with both theft and burglary when they get arrested, potentially along with other offenses.
Our defense attorneys can analyze the case against you, challenge the evidence in court, and ultimately defend you at trial if needed to try to help reduce penalties and get charges dismissed. We can also negotiate with the prosecution for potential plea deals that might see theft charges reduced or burglary charges eliminated entirely, depending on the situation.
For help with your case, turn to Overson Law’s theft and burglary defense attorneys by calling (801) 758-2287 today.
The Differences Between Theft and Burglary Charges in Heber City
Many people use words like theft, burglary, and robbery interchangeably. Someone might say that their house was robbed or that they were charged with burglary for stealing something, but these terms actually have precise definitions that cover different conduct. This often means you can face these charges together, depending on what happened in the alleged case against you.
Theft Defined
Theft is merely taking something that does not belong to you without permission. Theft charges are often filed under Utah Code § 76-6-404, but there are other theft crimes for stealing a car, theft by deception, theft by extortion, theft of services, and so on, all under different sections of the code. No matter which section you are charged with violating, our theft and burglary defense lawyers can help with your case.
In any case, the core thing being punished with a theft charge is the stealing. You will see in a second how this differs from burglary.
Burglary Defined
The traditional definition of burglary is entering into a house in the night with the intent to commit another crime therein. Under Utah Code § 76-6-202, the crime is defined as entering or staying in a building “unlawfully” with the intent to commit a crime off a particular list in the statute. This list includes things like assault, lewdness, sexual battery, “a felony” (in general), or theft.
What you can see by this definition is that burglary is not actually a theft offense at all, and the crime punishes the trespassing at its core.
Additionally, many burglary offenses do not involve theft at all, as breaking in to rape or assault someone or to burn the building down would all also qualify as burglary. However, many burglary charges are based on theft as this “predicate offense.”
Important Notes
In cases where burglary is charged with theft as the predicate offense – the crime you were alleged to have intended to commit – there are some important things to note.
First, you do not have to actually have committed the theft to be charged with burglary. The requirement for burglary is that you intended to commit the theft when you entered, so if you ultimately got caught before stealing anything or decided to back out at the last second because of a barking dog, the fact that you entered the house could mean you still face burglary charges. However, you should not face charges for a completed theft offense in these cases.
Second, even though the intent to commit theft or another crime is a required part of the burglary charges, you can still be charged with both offenses. The theft crime does not go away just because you were charged with burglary, though we might be able to negotiate with the prosecution to drop the theft charges if you plead guilty to the burglary charges (or vice versa). Additionally, if you committed other crimes in the house, they could also be charged separately, but this should be only one count of burglary because there was only one trespass.
Getting Burglary and Theft Charges Dropped and Reduced in Heber City
Theft is often a serious enough crime by itself, but the law considers it worse when you trespass to commit the theft. Additionally, burglary is often worse – and results in higher penalties – when the building you entered was a home where people live, all due to the fact that crimes involving the victim directly are considered worse. However, because these crimes overlap a lot with some other offenses, there is opportunity to potentially get different charges substituted in or to get the prosecution to drop certain charges through negotiated pleas.
Reducing Burglary to Trespassing
Since the core action in burglary is trespassing, it overlaps a lot with § 76-6-206’s crime of “criminal trespass.” This crime is a lot like burglary but covers trespassing to “cause annoyance,” destroy property, or make graffiti instead of entering to commit theft. If you can show that you did not intend to steal but just wanted to annoy people, break stuff, or tag something, this could reduce your charges to criminal trespass, which is a misdemeanor instead of a felony.
Dropping One Charge
Prosecutors might be willing to allow you to plead guilty to either the burglary or the theft offense in exchange for dropping the other one. More likely, they will want a plea to burglary, but you can still reduce your final fines and what goes on your criminal record by getting the theft charges dropped. If the trespass was only slight, they might be willing to drop it in exchange for a plea to theft.
“Burglary” in Public
Technically, entering a store with the intent to steal could be seen as burglary even though the store is open to the public. However, this is not usually charged this way, and we might be able to get burglary charges dropped if you were in a place open to the public. This might simply be a case of overcharging to try to scare you, but our lawyers can fight it.
Illegal Evidence
If the police seize evidence illegally – such as finding stolen goods in your backpack without cause to search it – then we can potentially get that evidence thrown out. This might make it harder for them to prove the case against you, potentially allowing us to get the charges dismissed or reduced based on what valid evidence is left.
Call Our Theft and Burglary Defense Attorneys in Heber City Today
Call Overson Law at (801) 758-2287 for a free case review with our theft and burglary defense lawyers.
