People v. Burkett
California Court of Appeal
220 Cal. App. 4th 572, 163 Cal. Rptr. 3d 259 (2013)
- Written by Arlyn Katen, JD
Facts
On May 2, 2011, Penny Lynn Burkett (defendant) and Nicholas Cummings kicked down a door to a house and removed copper pipes and other scrap metal and fixtures from it, causing over $400 of damage. Mersa Noor owned the house, but he rented it out to tenants until April 30, 2011, at the latest. The last tenant had not yet returned the keys to Noor, but the house was entirely empty of the tenant’s property. Noor intended to move into the house because his own home went into foreclosure, but the government (plaintiff) presented no evidence that Noor had moved in yet when the burglary occurred. Although Noor may have slept at the house with just a blanket a few nights after the burglary, Noor did not move in until May 8 or 9. A jury convicted Burkett of first-degree burglary. Burkett appealed, conceding that she committed burglary but that she was guilty only of second-degree burglary because the prosecution failed to prove that the house was inhabited.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Raye, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
