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Jacksonville man's conviction for Possession of Burglary Tools reversed
September 21, 2009
Topic: Criminal
The First DCA reversed a conviction for possession of burglary tools where the State failed to prove that the defendant possessed a pair of wire cutters for the purpose of entering a dwelling. Possession of burglary tools may be one of the most filed charges that is not sustained by the evidence.
If you have been charged with a crime in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Nassau county, or St. John's county, call the Florida criminal defense lawyers at Arnold & New at (904) 731-3800.
Click here to read the PDF version of the opinion or read the text below.
JERRY HARDWICK, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellant. 1st District. Case No. 1D07-6216. Opinion filed September 10, 2009. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Mallory D. Cooper, Judge. Counsel: Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Glenna Joyce Reeves, Assistant Public Defender, Office of the Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Joshua R. Heller, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
(PER CURIAM.) Appellant, Jerry Hardwick, appeals his convictions for burglary of a building and possession of burglary tools. We affirm the trial court's denial of Hardwick's motion to dismiss, but reverse the court's denial of Hardwick's motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of possession of burglary tools, because the evidence did not establish that he intended to use the tool found in his possession to commit a burglary or a trespass.
The state did not put on any evidence of forced entry, but only evidence that Hardwick carried wire cutters in order to cut copper tubing and electrical wiring inside a house under construction for the purpose of stealing it. The offense of possession of burglary tools requires proof that the defendant used or intended to use the tools in the course of unlawfully entering the premises of another, which is not satisfied by proof that the defendant intended to use the tools to commit an offense after entering the premises. See Calliar v. State, 760 So. 2d 885 (Fla. 1999) (quashing the conviction for possession of burglary tools because the evidence showed that the defendant entered through an open gate, and thus the state proved only that he possessed the tools with the intent to commit a theft inside and not that he intended to use the tools to get onto the premises). Accord Burke v. State, 672 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).
Affirmed in part and reversed in part. (WOLF, PADOVANO, and THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.)
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