People v. Butler

169 A.D.2d 246
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided July 12, 1991·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Boomer, J.

Defendant was convicted of grand larceny in the fourth degree for shoplifting. On appeal, defendant raises several issues, some of which were not preserved for appellate review and others which, we determine, lack merit.

Defendant first contends that his conviction should be reversed because he was not present when the court discussed the Sandoval issue (see, People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d 371) in chambers with counsel. By failing to object to the in-chambers conference at the time the court spread its rulings on the record, defendant has not preserved the issue for appellate review (People v Wynn, — AD2d — [decided herewith]; People v Howard, 167 AD2d 922; People v Dunlap, 161 AD2d 1114).

Defendant failed to preserve for review his contention that a police witness improperly bolstered the identification testimony of an eyewitness. He also failed to preserve for review the alleged errors in the court’s charge. In view of the overwhelming proof of defendant’s guilt, we decline to reach those issues in the interest of justice.

[248]*248The showup, conducted close in time and place to the commission of the crime, was not impermissibly suggestive (see, People v Love, 57 NY2d 1023). We reject defendant’s contention that the showup was improper because it was held at the security office of the mall where the theft occurred. The private security office was not the equivalent of a police station.

Requiring more extensive comment is defendant’s contention that he should not have been sentenced as a second felony offender because the predicate felony conviction for burglary in Ohio was not the equivalent of a felony in New York State.

In 1984, defendant was convicted in the State of Ohio for breaking and entering (Ohio Rev Code § 2911.13). Under the Ohio statute, that crime, a felony, is defined as follows: "A. No person by force, stealth, or deception, shall trespass in an unoccupied structure, with purpose to commit therein any theft offense as defined in section 2913.01 of the Revised Code, or any felony.”

The equivalent New York felony, burglary in the third degree, is defined as follows (Penal Law § 140.20): "A person is guilty of burglary in the third degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein.” Building is defined by Penal Law § 140.00 (2): " 'Building,’ in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any structure, vehicle or watercraft used for overnight lodging of persons, or used by persons for carrying on business therein, or used as an elementary or secondary school, or an inclosed motor truck, or an inclosed motor truck trailer.”

As defendant points out, the Ohio statute does not define an "unoccupied structure”. One Ohio court, however, using the statutory definition of "occupied structure”, defined an "unoccupied structure” as " '[a]ny house, building, outbuilding, watercraft, aircraft, railroad car, truck, trailer, tent, or other structure, vehicle, or shelter, or any portion thereof (State v Shears, 47 Ohio Mise 27, 28-29, 74 Ohio Op 2d 182, 184, 352 NE2d 660, 662 [Ct Common Pleas, Montgomery County 1975] [emphasis added]). Thus, defendant argues that the Ohio statute is broader than the New York Statute because it includes entry into a private aircraft whereas, under the New York law, breaking into a private aircraft would not constitute burglary. Moreover, he contends, the Ohio law encompasses breaking into a railroad [249]*249car, whereas it is doubtful that the New York statute includes a railroad car not linked to an engine.

Should the argument of defendant be adopted, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to use a conviction for burglary in another State as a predicate felony in New York. The definition of burglary in most States contains the same basic elements, breaking and entering or unlawful entry, with the intent to commit a crime therein. But the definition of the place of entry varies from the use of the words "building” and "structure” to "unoccupied structure”, and most statutes give a definition of "building” or "structure” that contains a list of specific places (see, American Law Institute, Model Penal Code and Commentaries, part II, § 221.1, comment 1 [1980]). Moreover, in construing the words "building” or "structure”, various State courts have reached different results in determining whether a particular place qualifies as a "building” or "structure” (see, Annotation, What is "Building” or "House” Within Burglary or Breaking and Entering Statute, 68 ALR4th 425). Since it is conceivable that a court in another State may construe the word "building” more broadly in a particular instance than the New York courts, a conviction under that statute for entry in a particular place may not qualify as a felony in New York.

Where a burglary statute specifically defines the places of entry, the court must look to the indictment to determine what specific place the defendant was accused and convicted of entering. For instance, Idaho Code § 18-1401 provides: "Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse, or other building, tent, vessel, closed vehicle, closed trailer, airplane or railroad car, with intent to commit any theft or any felony, is guilty of burglary.” (See, American Law Institute, Model Penal Code and Commentaries, part II, §221.1, at 62). In California, mines are specifically included in the list (see, California Penal Code § 459; Statutory Burglary—the Magic of Four Walls and a Roof, 100 U Pa L Rev 411, 417). Thus, where defendant has been convicted of burglary in Idaho and California, in determining whether he is a second felony offender, we must look to the accusatory instrument to see if defendant was convicted of unlawful entry of a vehicle, airplane, or mine. Such a conviction would not qualify as a commission of burglary under the New York statute, which does not include in its definition of "building” an airplane, [250]*250mine, or a vehicle or watercraft that is not used for lodging of persons or for carrying out business therein.

Defendant, citing People v Gonzalez (61 NY2d 586), contends that we must look only to the elements of the foreign crime as defined by the statute and not to the accusatory instrument in comparing it with the most equivalent New York crime.

In Gonzalez (supra, at 589), the Court of Appeals said: "To determine whether a foreign crime is equivalent to a New York felony the court must examine the elements of the foreign statute and compare them to an analogous Penal Law felony, for '[i]t is the statute upon which the indictment was drawn that necessarily defines and measures the crime’ (see People v Olah, 300 NY 96, 98). The crime cannot be extended or enlarged by allegations in the indictment or by referring to evidence at trial” (emphasis added).

In People v Olah (300 NY 96), the Court of Appeals held that it was improper for the sentencing court to look at the New Jersey indictment to determine whether the acts committed by defendant constituted a felony in New York. The New Jersey larceny statute made it a felony to steal property or money having a value of or above $20.

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People v. Butler, 169 A.D.2d 246 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1991).

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