Braswell v. State
| Decision Date | 08 April 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-1343,95-1343 |
| Citation | 671 So.2d 228 |
| Parties | 21 Fla. L. Weekly D864 Brian F. BRASWELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Franklin County; P. Kevin Davey, Judge.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, William J. Bakstran, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Appellant, Brian Braswell, appeals his conviction for burglary of a conveyance. In this case of first impression in Florida, Braswell contends that burglary of a conveyance cannot be established by proof that he removed personal property from the open bed of a pickup truck. We disagree and therefore affirm.
Section 810.02(1), Florida Statutes (1993), defines burglary as "entering or remaining in a structure or a conveyance with the intent to commit an offense therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the defendant is licensed or invited to enter or remain." "Conveyance" means any motor vehicle. § 810.011(3), Fla.Stat. (Supp.1994). It is undisputed that Braswell stole the property, a cooler, from the bed of the truck. The owner of the truck testified that the cooler was strapped down, and he believed he had fastened it with bungee cords. A witness saw Braswell pop a bungee cord off the cooler while taking it, but another witness said it did not appear that the cooler had been secured.
We have found no Florida case which is directly on point; rather cases relating to burglaries of conveyances have been decided on whether an entry occurred. For example, in R.E.S. v. State, 396 So.2d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), this court concluded that siphoning gasoline from an automobile did not constitute burglary of a conveyance, because there was no entry. In State v. Hankins, 376 So.2d 285 (Fla. 5th DCA 1979), the court determined that stealing hubcaps did not establish burglary of a conveyance, because there was no entry. In contrast, the Third District in Anderson v. State, 415 So.2d 829 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982), held that lifting a radiator from an engine compartment of a vehicle lacking a hood did constitute burglary of a conveyance, because the statute requires entry of only a portion of the defendant's body into the vehicle. Similarly, in State v. Harvey, 403 So.2d 630 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981), the court concluded that taking a starter by entering the engine compartment through the underside of the car was sufficient proof of entry.
It appears that courts in only six other jurisdictions have reported decisions on this issue. Of those, the courts in five have held that a defendant can be convicted of burglary of a conveyance by taking property from the open bed of a pickup truck. The statute in each of these jurisdictions requires, as does Florida's, proof of entry into the vehicle with intent to commit a felony. People v. Romero, 179 Colo. 159, 499 P.2d 604 (1972) (en banc); People v. Frey, 126 Ill.App.3d 484, 81 Ill.Dec. 602, 467 N.E.2d 302 (1984); State v. Rodriguez, 101 N.M. 192, 679 P.2d 1290, cert. denied, 101 N.M. 189, 679 P.2d 1287 (1984); State v. Cloud, 324 N.W.2d 287 (S.D.1982); Richardson...
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Baise v. State, CR-18-0616
...felony. Even though the Florida statute does not contain language prohibiting entry into "any part thereof" of a vehicle, in Braswell v. State, 671 So. 2d 228 (1996), the Florida District Court of Appeal did not consider the absence of such language to be a significant distinction from othe......
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Drew v. State, SC95785.
...a tire from a motor vehicle constituted a burglary. Other cases have reached seemingly similar results. See, e.g., Braswell v. State, 671 So.2d 228, 229-30 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (holding that reaching into the bed of a pickup truck to remove a secured item within the truck was an entry); Greg......
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State v. Word, 97-03500
...the wheels and tires of the automobile, appellee entered the vehicle by taking apart a portion of the conveyance. See Braswell v. State, 671 So.2d 228 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Zipperer v. State, 481 So.2d 991 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986). Appellee's theft of the wheels and tires removed from the automob......
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Pitts v. State
...by reaching in over the side of the bed of a pick-up truck, grabbing a bike, and lifting it up out of the truck); Braswell v. State, 671 So.2d 228, 229-30 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (affirming conviction for burglary of a conveyance based upon defendant stealing a cooler from the open bed of a pic......