Goins v. State
Ohio Supreme Court
90 Ohio St. 176 (1914)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
Mary Linton owned property on which she kept a chicken house. The chicken-house door was propped open 15 to 18 inches with a fence post on one side and a brick on the other so that Linton and the chickens could go in and out. The door was not open wide enough to permit Linton to walk in; she had to hold the edge of the door and pull around. One night, Goins (defendant) entered the chicken house and stole chickens. The next morning, the door to the chicken house was between one-half and two-thirds open, and the fence post and brick were out of place. Goins was charged with burglary. At trial, the court refused to instruct the jury, as requested by Goins, that it should find Goins not guilty if it found that the door to the chicken house was already open or partly open when Goins committed the alleged breaking and entering. Goins was convicted and argued on appeal that the evidence did not show a forcible breaking and entering and that the trial court should have instructed the jury that it should acquit Goins of breaking and entering if the door to the chicken house had been left partly open.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newman, J.)
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