Commonwealth v. Hagan

654 A.2d 541, 539 Pa. 609, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 90
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 15, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 654 A.2d 541 (Commonwealth v. Hagan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Hagan, 654 A.2d 541, 539 Pa. 609, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 90 (Pa. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

MONTEMURO, Justice.

Appellant, Michael Hagan, appeals from an order and memorandum opinion of the Superior Court affirming a judgment of sentence of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia for [612]*612counts of burglary, theft by unlawful taking, theft by receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, and criminal conspiracy.

We granted allocatur to determine whether a fenced storage lot was an “occupied structure” for the purposes of our burglary and criminal trespass statutes. We conclude that such a lot is an “occupied structure” and, accordingly, affirm the order of the Superior Court.

The pertinent facts in this case are as follows. Morris Iron and Steel (“Morris”) owned a lot located at 4800 Rhawn Street, Philadelphia. This lot was enclosed by a chain link fence and secured at the gate by a lock and chain. The site had been previously used as a manufacturing site by Morris, but was no longer in active use in that capacity. Thus, the lot contained two inactive and vacant buildings. Morris used the lot to store several tons of railroad steel.

On June 10, 1991, Appellant Hagan and his accomplice backed a pickup truck into the driveway of the Rhawn Street facility. They broke the chain and lock securing the gate to the site and entered the lot. Then, they arranged the steel and iron found at the lot into several piles near their truck.

Stanton Greller, manager of Morris, drove by the Rhawn Street site on a routine check of the property. He noticed the pick-up truck in the driveway and saw Hagan and his accomplice attempting to pry-open the lock and chain securing the gate. Greller contacted the police and informed them of what he had witnessed. The police arrived and arrested the pair. They were subsequently charged with burglary1, theft by unlawful taking2, theft by receiving stolen property3, criminal trespass4, and criminal conspiracy5. Following a bench trial, Hagan was found guilty on all charges and was sentenced to concurrent terms of two years of probation on each count. [613]*613These convictions were affirmed by a panel of the Superior Court.

In this appeal, Hagan asserts that the evidence was insufficient to convict him on the burglary and criminal trespass counts because a fenced storage lot is not an “occupied structure” within the meaning of those two statutes. It is well settled that the test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner and drawing all proper inferences favorable to the Commonwealth, the trier of fact could have determined all the elements of the crime have been established beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Williams, 532 Pa. 265, 272, 615 A.2d 716, 719 (1992); Commonwealth v. Rhodes, 510 Pa. 537, 540, 510 A.2d 1217, 1218 (1986).

Both our burglary and criminal trespass statutes have a required element of breaking and entering a “building or occupied structure, or separately secured portion thereof.” 18 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a) (burglary)6; 18 Pa.C.S. § 3503(a) (criminal trespass).7 It is undisputed by the parties that the Rhawn Street site is not a “building” within the meaning of these statutes. Thus, for Hagan’s conviction to be upheld, the site would have to be an “occupied structure.” 18 Pa.C.S. § 3501 defines an occupied structure as “any structure, vehicle, or place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons, or for carrying on business therein, whether or not a person is actually present.” Thus, any “place ... adapted ... for [614]*614carrying on a business therein ...” is an occupied structure for the purposes of the burglary and criminal trespass statutes.

We find that a fenced and secured storage lot is a “place adapted for carrying on a business.” Simply put, storage is a business activity no less than any other facet of a business such as manufacturing, retail sales or distribution. This was the holding of the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Evans, 393 Pa.Super. 500, 574 A.2d 1051 (1990), appeal denied, 527 Pa. 597, 589 A.2d 688 (1990). Evans actually consisted of two consolidated cases, both involving storage lots. In the first of these consolidated cases, the defendant was found in the tank farm area of a refinery. This area was surrounded by a six foot high chain link fence in which a large hole was discovered. The defendant and his accomplice were caught removing aluminum sheeting from the side of a tank and were arrested. In the second case, the defendant was arrested in a bus storage yard completely surrounded by a fence and secured by a locked gate. The defendant was observed removing window frames from the buses and was arrested. The defendants in both of these cases were charged with criminal trespass and in each case the charges were dismissed by the trial court. The Superior Court reversed and held that the defendants could be charged with criminal trespass. The court stated:

Surely the storage of buses and petroleum products furthers the business purposes of SEPTA and ARCO. We conclude that the fenced enclosures which appellees are accused of breaking into are ‘places adapted for carrying on a business therein’ and are therefore ‘occupied structures’ ....

Evans, 393 Pa.Super. at 506, 574 A.2d at 1054.

We are in accord with the reasoning of the Superior Court in Evans. We agree the very act of storage is an activity that furthers the purpose of a business. Thus, any secured facility where goods are stored is a place adapted for the carrying on a business and, therefore, an occupied structure for the purposes of the criminal trespass and burglary statutes.

[615]*615This holding, we believe, is in accord with the common law rationale for the offense of burglary. Under the common law, burglary was “a forcible invasion of the right of habitation.” Commonwealth v. LeGrand, 336 Pa. 511, 518, 9 A.2d 896, 899 (1939) (quoting 4 Blackstone, Commentaries 223). In Le Grand we noted that under the common law burglary was a “very heinous offense” where “[ejvery burglar is a potential assassin and when his felonious purpose encounters human opposition his intent to steal becomes an intent to kill.... ” Id. Thus, the requirement that the burglar enter an “occupied structure” in our present statute reflects the concern for human safety found in the common law offense. Our holding today is likewise motivated by a concern for human safety. It is a common sense conclusion that storage facilities used in the carrying on of a business are a natural attraction for the criminal element. It is also a common sense conclusion that employees will be present at the such sites in varying degrees to maintain, secure, and utilize the storage facility. Thus, it is often possible that a burglar will encounter an employee, such as a guard securing the facility or an employee making a routine delivery, in the course of committing his crime.

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Bluebook (online)
654 A.2d 541, 539 Pa. 609, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-hagan-pa-1995.