Washington v. State

753 So. 2d 475, 1999 WL 1034829
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Washington v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 726 So. 2d 209
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided November 16, 1999·No. 1998-KA-01505-COA·Published

Opinion

753 So.2d 475 (1999)

Mose WASHINGTON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 1998-KA-01505-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 16, 1999.

*476 Allan D. Shackelford, Clarksdale, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE SOUTHWICK, P.J., DIAZ, AND MOORE, JJ.

DIAZ, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. The Quitman County Circuit Court convicted Mose Washington of burglary of a dwelling and sentenced him to a term of three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Washington appeals, contending (1) that the State failed to prove the building he was convicted of burglarizing was a dwelling within the meaning of the burglary statute and (2) that the trial court erred in denying an instruction on the lesser-included offense of trespass. Finding no merit in these contentions, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Thelma Scott Ingram, a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned a home in Lambert, Mississippi. Ms. Ingram used the home when she visited her family in Lambert. She visited approximately five times each year and would usually stay for two to three weeks each time.

¶ 3. One of Ms. Ingram's daughters, Patricia, lived directly across the street from her mother's home in Lambert. On June 26, 1998, Patricia saw a man in black pants and a white T-shirt enter her mother's home. Patricia knew that no one was staying in the house on that day. In an attempt to get the individual to exit the house, she got in her car and blew the horn. The individual did not come out of the house, so Patricia went into an alley behind the house in an attempt to get help. There, she found Tony Benson who went inside to investigate while the police were summoned. Apparently, the intruder was not found inside the home. When the police arrived, Patricia gave a description of the individual to Officer Tommy Doyle. Accompanied by Patricia, Officer Doyle left in search of the individual. Officer Doyle soon discovered an individual matching the description provided by Patricia. She identified him as Mose Washington.

¶ 4. Washington was arrested and charged with burglary of a dwelling. He gave a voluntary statement to police admitting to his actions. Washington admitted that he gained access to the home by removing an air conditioning unit and crawling in through the window. Once inside, he bathed, put on a T-shirt he found inside the home, and laid down on the couch. A short time later, he became hungry and ate a rusty can of fruit cocktail which he found in the kitchen. He then fell asleep on the couch.

¶ 5. When he awoke the next morning, Washington left the house and went to his job in Tutwiler where he assisted in cleaning out a fire-damaged Fred's Dollar Store. That afternoon, Washington returned to the home and bathed. At some *477 point after his bath, he decided to sell the air conditioning unit which he had removed to gain access to the home. He approached an individual and asked if he were interested in buying an air conditioner, leading the individual to believe that he had acquired it through his work at Fred's Dollar Store. The individual agreed to purchase the air conditioner for twenty dollars. It was when Washington returned to the home after selling the air conditioner that he was spotted by Patricia Ingram.

¶ 6. Washington was indicted for the burglary of an occupied dwelling, in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-17-23 (Supp. 1999). Following a trial held in the Quitman County Circuit Court, the jury found Washington guilty. He was sentenced to a term of three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and five years of post-release supervision.

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE STATE PROVED THAT THE BUILDING WAS A DWELLING

¶ 7. Washington contends the State failed to prove that the building he was convicted of burglarizing was in fact a dwelling. He claims that because the building's owner, Ms. Ingram, only stayed there occasionally during her visits to Mississippi, it is not a dwelling within the meaning of the burglary statute. In support of his claim, Washington points to the fact that the building lacked a working refrigerator and stove.

¶ 8. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-17-23 (Supp. 1999) provides that "[e]very person who shall be convicted of breaking and entering the dwelling house or inner door of such dwelling house of another ... and whether there shall be at the time some human being in such dwelling house or not, with intent to commit some crime therein, shall be punished by imprisonment in the Penitentiary not less than three (3) years nor more than twenty-five (25) years." A dwelling house is defined as "[e]very building joined to, immediately connected with, or being part of the dwelling house...." Miss.Code Ann. § 97-17-31 (Rev.1994). Washington argues that the home was too infrequently occupied to qualify as a dwelling in that Ms. Ingram only spent approximately ten to fifteen weeks each year in the home.

¶ 9. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that "a person may simultaneously have two dwellings subject to burglary and sometimes reside with his family in one and sometimes in the other. The breach of one of them in the absence of his family would still be burglary." Gillum v. State, 468 So.2d 856, 859 (Miss. 1985). The intention of the dweller is the material consideration in determining whether a building may be characterized as a dwelling for purposes of the burglary statute. Id. A temporary absence does not destroy the character of a home as a dwelling if the dweller leaves with the intent to return. Id. at 860.

¶ 10. Washington relies upon Scott v. State, a case in which the owner of a building visited once or twice a year, usually staying a week or less. Scott v. State, 62 Miss. 781 (1885). The building contained nothing but some bedding and old clothes. Although the owner ate and slept at the house, his meals were prepared elsewhere. Id. The Mississippi Supreme Court found that "[t]he building as described by the testimony was not a dwelling house in legal contemplation. To render a building a dwelling house, it must be a habitation for man, and usually occupied by some person lodging in it at night." Id. at 782.

¶ 11. The present case is factually distinguishable from Scott. Ms. Ingram used her Lambert home on a regular basis for a period of eight or nine years. In fact, she had visited her home several weeks before the burglary. Moreover, Ms. Ingram's daughter lived in the home on a permanent basis while attending high school in Lambert and had only left the house a few *478 months prior to the burglary. Testimony reveals that at the very least, the home contained clothing, a bed, a sofa, a micro-wave oven and other necessities. Washington's own testimony establishes that there was running water and electricity, as he stated that he bathed and turned on a light inside the home. Finally, contrary to Washington's assertions, the fact that the refrigerator was unplugged and the stove non-functional does not prevent the building from being classified as a dwelling.

¶ 12.

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