People v. Boose

487 N.E.2d 1088, 139 Ill. App. 3d 471, 94 Ill. Dec. 211, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2845
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 30, 1985
Docket84-1817
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 487 N.E.2d 1088 (People v. Boose) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Boose, 487 N.E.2d 1088, 139 Ill. App. 3d 471, 94 Ill. Dec. 211, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2845 (Ill. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE WHITE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial defendant, Carl Boose, was convicted of burglary and retail theft. He was sentenced to seven years for burglary and 365 days for theft, the sentences to run concurrently. Defendant appeals the burglary conviction and sentence.

On December 18, 1983, Gerald Rice, supervisor of night shift guards at Marshall Field’s State Street store, received a call at 8:20 a.m. from a Marshall Field’s engineer. Rice testified that the engineer told him a man was sleeping in the store. Rice encountered defendant in the store near the reported location and asked what he was doing there. Defendant first responded that he was an employee, whereupon Rice asked to see an employee identification card. When Boose failed to produce a proper identification card, he was escorted to the security office where he was searched. An inventory of the items taken from his pocket included a pair of gloves, three pairs of socks bearing Marshall Field’s tags, a money order and $8.30 in currency. A search of Boose also revealed that the sweater and jacket he was wearing bore Marshall Field’s price tags and sensomatic tags. The shirt Boose was wearing had a Marshall Field’s label, but bore no store tags or sensomatic tags. Rice found no sales receipts for the merchandise Boose possessed. The record shows that the aggregate sales price of the merchandise was $70.90.

Rice testified further that he again asked defendant why he was in the store. Boose replied that he had been in the store all night. Rice testified that Boose then expressed his desire to pay for the merchandise, but Rice stated that the store was not opened for business. Rice also testified that Boose tried to walk away when Rice first saw him in the store.

After Rice’s testimony, the State submitted a stipulation that certain police officers would offer testimony that Boose had told them that he had remained in the store after it had closed. Following the stipulation, the State rested and Boose moved for a directed verdict, which was denied. Boose then took the witness stand in his own behalf. He testified that on December 17, 1983, he consumed a fifth of gin, smoked a few joints of marijuana, and took two lids of acid. He then entered Marshall Field’s at 9:45 a.m. and walked around for three or four hours, stopped in a restaurant and walked around again to see the Christmas sights. Boose testified further that sometime between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., he realized that the store had closed and thought that if he tried to explain that he was locked in, the store guards would suspect him of burglary. Boose stated that he instead found a storeroom and went to sleep. Boose awoke the next morning about 7 or 8 a.m., and attempted to find a security guard to tell him what had happened. Rice apprehended him at this point.

On appeal defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the burglary conviction because the State failed to prove that he formed the intent to steal at the time he entered Marshall Field’s. Defendant was charged by information with burglary and retail theft. That information alleged that Boose committed burglary in that “he without authority knowingly entered into a building, to wit: the store of Marshall Field and Company, Inc. a corporation with the intent to commit the offense of theft therein.” (Emphasis added.) Section 19— 1(a) of our Criminal Code of 1961 defines burglary as follows:

“A person commits burglary when without authority he knowingly enters or without authority remains within a building *** with intent to commit therein a felony or theft.” (Emphasis added.) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 19-l(a).)

We note that the statute states the offense in the alternative: a defendant commits burglary of a building either by illegal entry or by illegally remaining. In the instant case, the State chose to charge Boose with burglary by illegal entry. Thus, the State has the burden of showing that Boose entered Marshall Field’s both without authority and with the intent to steal. People v. Bryant (1979), 79 Ill. App. 3d 501, 398 N.E.2d 941.

In Illinois it is well settled that a building open to the public can be the subject of a burglary. (People v. Weaver (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 434, 243 N.E.2d 245, cert, denied (1969), 395 U.S. 959, 23 L. Ed. 2d 746, 89 S. Ct. 2100; People ex rel. McLain v. Housewright (1973), 9 Ill. App. 3d 803, 293 N.E.2d 911.) As stated in People v. Baker (1978), 59 Ill. App. 3d 100, 102, 375 N.E.2d 176, citing People v. Weaver (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 434, 243 N.E.2d 245, cert, denied (1969), 395 U.S. 959, 23 L. Ed. 2d 746, 89 S. Ct. 2100, and People v. Blair (1972), 52 Ill. 2d 371, 288 N.E.2d 443:

“***authority to enter a business building or other building open to the public extends only to those who enter with a purpose consistent with the reason the building is open and that an entry into such a building with intent to commit a theft cannot be said to be within the authority granted those who might enter.”

Under the “public building” aspect of burglary, the element of entry without authority need not be established apart from the element of entry with intent to commit a theft. Therefore, a mere showing that Boose entered Marshall Field’s for the purpose of stealing satisfies both elements of the offense.

The crime of burglary often requires that its elements be proved by circumstantial evidence. (People v. Richardson (1984), 104 Ill. 2d 8, 470 N.E.2d 1024.) In the instant case, we find the evidence insufficient to support an inference that defendant entered the store for the purpose of stealing. There is uncontroverted evidence that Boose, who was highly intoxicated, entered the store during regular business hours, went to several restaurants in the store and walked around for several hours viewing the Christmas sights. At approximately 7:30 p.m., Boose realized that the store was closed. He went to sleep in a storeroom to avoid being found and suspected of wrongdoing. After nearly 24 hours had passed, Boose was found wearing clothes bearing price tags and sensomatie tags. This evidence alone does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant entered with an intent to commit theft.

In People v. Weaver (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 434, 243 N.E.2d 245, cert. denied (1969), 395 U.S. 959, 23 L. Ed. 2d 746, 89 S. Ct. 2100, and People v. Schneller (1966), 69 Ill. App. 2d 50, 216 N.E .2d 510, both defendants were convicted of burglarizing buildings opened to the public during business hours.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
487 N.E.2d 1088, 139 Ill. App. 3d 471, 94 Ill. Dec. 211, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-boose-illappct-1985.