Johnson v. Commonwealth

Lacy Johnson (defendant) and a group of other men went to an apartment occupied by Brenda Broadnax, her son Carlos Brooks, and Brenda’s husband. One of the men in the group was apparently looking for Carlos in order to fight him over an alleged previous altercation. After Brenda answered the apartment door and refused to let the men into the apartment, someone in the group kicked the door open. Brenda immediately shut and locked the door, and then she fled through another exit with Carlos and her husband. When Brenda and her family later returned to the apartment after contacting the police, they found that the front door had been broken in, considerable damage had been done to the apartment and their belongings, and some items were missing. Johnson was arrested and charged with burglary and petit larceny. At trial, different witnesses gave conflicting evidence as to whether Johnson had been the person who broke the door in and whether he had then entered the apartment. Johnson was found guilty of the lesser included burglary offense of breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor and found not guilty of petit larceny. Johnson appealed, alleging that he could not be found guilty of breaking and entering because it required proof that the dwelling had been physically occupied at the time of the entry.