Bruen v. People

69 N.E. 24, 206 Ill. 417, 1903 Ill. LEXIS 2818
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 16, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 69 N.E. 24 (Bruen v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruen v. People, 69 N.E. 24, 206 Ill. 417, 1903 Ill. LEXIS 2818 (Ill. 1903).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Magruder

delivered the opinion of the court:

First—This indictment for burglary contains two counts. The first charges that plaintiff in error “forcibly,” etc., “did break and enter into the certain building, to-wit, hotel of Washington Porter and Nate R. Salisbury, partners then and there doing business as Porter & -Salisbury,” “with intent to steal,” “contrary,” etc. The second count was the same as the first, with the exception that the grand jury charged plaintiff in error with entering the certain building “without force, the doors and windows being open,” etc., “with intent,” etc.

The first point, made by plaintiff in error, is that the indictment alleged a burglary in the day time, while the proof showed a burglary in the night time. This is not an accurate statement of the allegations in the indictment. Neither of the counts alleged that the burglary occurred in either the day time or night time. Section 36 of the Criminal Code provides as follows: “Whoever willfully and maliciously and forcibly breaks and enters, or willfully and maliciously, without force, (the doors or windows being open), enters into any dwelling house, * * * or other building, with intent to commit murder, robbery, rape, mayhem or other felony or larceny, shall be deemed guilty of burglary and be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term not less than one year, nor more than twenty years: Provided, however, that whoever willfully and maliciously and forcibly breaks and enters, or willfully hnd maliciously, without force (the doors or. windows being open), enters into any dwelling house in the night time, with intent to commit, "x" * * shall, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term of not less than five years, nor more than twenty years,” etc. (1 Starr & Curt. Ann. Stat.—2d ed.-—p. 1244.) The counts of the indictment here are framed under the first part of section 36 for burglary generally, without specifying whether committed in the day or in the night. The proof showed that the offense was committed at night, and there was no variance.

In Bromley v. People, 150 Ill. 297, it was held that, under this section 36, and the statute there quoted, it was unnecessary to charge that the crime was committed either “in. the night time” or “in the day time,” in order to constitute the charge of burglary under the existing law of this State. In Bromley v. People, supra, the indictment charged, that the crime was committed in the night time, while the proof showed that it was committed in the day time, and it was held that there was a fatal variance on that account between the proofs and the allegations: In that case, a doubt was expressed as to whether, under an information, which charged the commission of the crime of burglary without stating whether the act was committed in the night time or in the day time, a defendant could properly be convicted, under a statute such as ours, of a burglary committed in the night time. The expression of such a doubt, however, was unnecessary to the decision of that case in view of the variance already referred to. In the subsequent case, however-, of •Schwabacher v. People, 165 Ill. 618, we said upon this subject (p. 624): “It would therefore seem clear that, under a count framed under the first part of the section for burglary generally without specifying whether committed at day or night, as the last two counts in this indictment were framed, the accused might be found guilty, where the evidence was otherwise sufficient, even though it appeared the offense was committed in the night time. But in such a case the punishment would be from one to twenty years, at the discretion of the jury,' and not from five to twenty years. * * * It would be burglary in either case, whether committed at night or in day time, and it cannot be correctly said that, because the proof establishes the offense in its aggravated form, it does not establish it in its less aggravated form. Where sufficient is proved to establish the offense, it would be altogether illogical to say there was a failure, of proof, or a variance between the allegations and proof, simply because more was proved than alleged.” We are, therefore, of the opinion that, under this indictment, which does not specify whether the burglary was committed at day or night, there is no fatal variance because the proof shows the crime to have been committed at night.

Second—The indictment charges that plaintiff in error “did * * * enter into the certain building, to-wit, hotel of Washington Porter and Nate R. Salisbury, partners then and there doing business as Porter & Salisbury.” It is claimed that there was no proof that Washington Porter and Nate R. Salisbury were partners* and,-therefore, that there was a fatal variance. One witness testified that he knew who the owners of the Hotel Majestic were, and that they were “Porter & Salisbury, Washington Porter and Nate Salisbury.” This was substantially a statement, that the hotel was owned by Washington Porter and Nate Salisbury, and that they constituted the firm of Porter & Salisbury. The evidence further shows, that certain of the employes of the hotel were in the service of Porter & Salisbury in «the management of the hotel. There was thus testimony, tending to show that Porter & Salisbury were partners. That a partnership actually exists may be implied from, circumstances, and positive proof of the fact is not indispensable. Whether certain persons are partners, .or not, is purely a question of fact to be determined from the evidence. (Kelleher v. Tisdale, 23 Ill. 354; Field v. Crawford, 146 id. 136),.

Third—It is furthermore claimed, that .there was no proof of the allegation, contained in the indictment, that the hotel in question was a “building.” We have no doubt that, within the meaning of the words, “other building,” as used in the Burglary statute, a hotel is a building. In Orrell v. People, 94 Ill. 456, it was held that “a ‘stable,’ as that word is commonly used and understood, is the.equivalent of ‘building,’ and- is, therefore, fairly included, in the statute defining burglary, in that class of structures denominated ‘other buildings.’”

In Gillock v. People, 171 Ill. 307, it was held that, a chicken-house, or hen-house, was a building within the meaning of said statute.. (See also Kincaid v. People, 139 Ill. 213, and Schwabacher v. People, supra). A building has been defined to be “a fabric or edifice constructed for use or convenience; as a house, a church, a shop. It must be permanent and designed for the habitation of men or animals, or the shelter of property.” (2 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law,—1st ed.—p. 601). A hotel is certainly an edifice designed for the habitation of men.

Fourth—It appears from" the evidence that plaintiff in error, was searched, and that there were found upon his person keys, belonging to two other hotels than the one where he was arrested. It is claimed, that the trial court erred in not excluding the evidence in regard to these keys. In our opinion no error was committed in this regard. It has been held that burglars’ tools, found upon the person of the accused when arrested, may be put in evidence upon his trial for burglary. (Williams v. People, 196 Ill. 173). The evidence showed that one of the keys, found upon the person of the plaintiff in error, unlocked the door of room “K” 64 in the hotel where he was found.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 N.E. 24, 206 Ill. 417, 1903 Ill. LEXIS 2818, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruen-v-people-ill-1903.