State v. Bon

Decision Date28 November 2014
Docket NumberNo. 2 CA–CR 2014–0054.,2 CA–CR 2014–0054.
Citation700 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 14,338 P.3d 989,236 Ariz. 249
PartiesThe STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Joann BON, Appellant.
CourtArizona Court of Appeals

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Affirmed. Thomas C. Horne, Arizona Attorney General, Joseph T. Maziarz, Section Chief Counsel, Phoenix by Alan L. Amann, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson, Counsel for Appellee.

Lori J. Lefferts, Pima County Public Defender by Lisa M. Hise and Travis K. Ausland, Assistant Public Defenders, Tucson, Counsel for Appellant.

Judge VÁSQUEZ authored the opinion of the Court, in which Presiding Judge KELLY and Judge HOWARD concurred.

OPINION

VÁSQUEZ, Judge.

¶ 1 After a jury trial, Joann Bon was convicted of third-degree burglary, theft of property having a value of $1,000 or more but less than $2,000, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The trial court sentenced her to concurrent prison terms, the longest of which was three years, followed by a three-year term of probation. In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the act of removing property from the open bed of a pickup truck constitutes entry of a structure under our burglary statutes. For the reasons that follow, we conclude it does and therefore affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

¶ 2 We view the facts and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to upholding the verdicts.” State v. Tamplin, 195 Ariz. 246, ¶ 2, 986 P.2d 914, 914 (App.1999). In October 2012, two men working for a satellite television company drove to an apartment complex to install a satellite dish. They left their pickup truck in the parking lot and walked to the customer's building for an initial inspection of the site. When they returned, the men found Bon standing on the far side of the truck, reaching into its bed. As they approached, the men saw Bon holding a tool belt in her hand. They later discovered she had removed their “tools, hammer drill, impact gun, satellite meter, charger, [and] batteries” from the bed of the truck. The men detained Bon and called 9–1–1. Responding police officers found two crack pipes and a hypodermic needle in Bon's possession during a search following her arrest.

¶ 3 A grand jury indicted Bon for third-degree burglary, theft of property or services with a value of $2,000 or more but less than $3,000, and possession of drug paraphernalia. At the close of evidence at trial, Bon moved for a judgment of acquittal on the burglary charge pursuant to Rule 20(a), Ariz. R.Crim. P., arguing that the truck bed did not meet the statutory definition of a structure and that her actions did not amount to entry of a structure. The trial court denied the motion and later instructed the jury that “a vehicle includes the bed of a pickup truck, and a vehicle is a structure.”

¶ 4 The jury found Bon guilty on all counts but determined that the tools and equipment had a value of $1,000 or more but less than $2,000. The trial court sentenced her as described above, and this appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12–120.21(A)(1), 13–4031, and 13–4033(A)(1).

Burglary

¶ 5 Bon argues “the trial court erred in ruling that the unsecured, open-air bed of a pickup truck is a structure” within the meaning of A.R.S. §§ 13–1501(12) and 13–1506. She also suggests that the act of reaching into a truck bed does not constitute an “entry” of a structure as defined by § 13–1501(3). We review the denial of a Rule 20 motion, as well as issues of statutory interpretation, de novo. See State v. West, 226 Ariz. 559, ¶ 15, 250 P.3d 1188, 1191 (2011); State v. Christian, 205 Ariz. 64, ¶ 6, 66 P.3d 1241, 1243 (2003).

¶ 6 “Our primary purpose in interpreting a statute is to give effect to the legislature's intent.” State v. Hinden, 224 Ariz. 508, ¶ 9, 233 P.3d 621, 623 (App.2010). We look first to the statute's language because we expect it to be the best and most reliable index of a statute's meaning.’ Id., quoting State v. Williams, 175 Ariz. 98, 100, 854 P.2d 131, 133 (1993). And, [i]f statutory terms are defined, we apply that definition; otherwise, we interpret statutory terms ‘in accordance with their commonly accepted meanings.’ State v. Petrak, 198 Ariz. 260, ¶ 10, 8 P.3d 1174, 1178 (App.2000), quoting State v. Reynolds, 170 Ariz. 233, 234, 823 P.2d 681, 682 (1992). [T]here is no need to resort to other methods of statutory interpretation to determine the legislature's intent” if the statute's language is unambiguous. Christian, 205 Ariz. 64, ¶ 6, 66 P.3d at 1243.

¶ 7 A person commits third-degree burglary by [e]ntering or remaining unlawfully in or on a nonresidential structure ... with the intent to commit any theft or any felony therein.” § 13–1506(A)(1). Our legislature has provided several definitions to guide our interpretation of § 13–1506. See Petrak, 198 Ariz. 260, ¶ 10, 8 P.3d at 1178. “Entry” is “the intrusion of ... any part of a person's body inside the external boundaries of a structure.” § 13–1501(3). A “structure” can include “any building, object, vehicle, railroad car or place with sides and a floor that is separately securable from any other structure attached to it and that is used for lodging, business, transportation, recreation or storage.” § 13–1501(12). And, a “vehicle” is “a device in, upon or by which any person or property is ... transported or drawn upon a highway.” A.R.S. § 13–105(41).

¶ 8 When discussing burglary of a truck in State v. Zinsmeyer, this court suggested a truck's cabin was included in the statutory definition of “vehicle,” concluding “a truck is plainly a vehicle” and “the legislature must have intended third-degree burglary to include burglary of a truck.” 222 Ariz. 612, ¶ 29, 218 P.3d 1069, 1081 (App.2009), overruled on other grounds by State v. Bonfiglio, 231 Ariz. 371, ¶¶ 6, 15, 295 P.3d 948, 950–51 (2013). The facts of this case do not lead us to a different result. Under the statute's plain language, the bed of the truck—upon which “property is ... transported or drawn,” § 13–105(41)—is a part of the vehicle and is therefore a part of that structure, see § 13–1501(12). And, the act of reaching into a truck bed amounts to an intrusion beyond the external boundaries of that structure. See § 13–1501(3); Christian, 205 Ariz. 64, ¶ 6, 66 P.3d at 1243.

¶ 9 Bon nevertheless argues burglary must be limited to spaces that are securable, such as the cabin of a truck. We disagree. This court recently parsed the language of § 13–1501(12) in State v. Gill:

[A] “structure” for these purposes must satisfy three requirements: the structure must be (1) “any vending machine or any building, object, vehicle, railroad car or place with sides and a floor” that is (2) “separately securable from any other structure attached to it” and (3) “used for lodging, business, transportation, recreation or storage.”

235 Ariz. 418, ¶ 5, 333 P.3d 36, 37 (App.2014). We explained that the second element represents “words of limitation on the scope of those options described in the first requirement.” Id. ¶ 8.

¶ 10 As it relates to a vehicle, the second requirement applies only to other structures that may be attached to the vehicle. In this case, however, the truck bed was not an independent structure, but a part of the vehicle itself. See § 13–1501(12). Consequently, it is immaterial whether the bed was separately securable. And, in any event, Bon's argument essentially asks us to apply only the initial portion of this limitation: “separately securable.” But we must read the words of the second requirement as a whole. See Gill, 235 Ariz. 418, ¶ 6, 333 P.3d at 37–38 (“last antecedent rule” requires qualifying phrase to be “applied to the word or phrase immediately preceding it”). Thus, § 13–1501(12) does not require that all parts of a single structure be “securable.” Rather, the second requirement applies to two “separately securable” structures that are attached. See State v. Gardella, 156 Ariz. 340, 341–42, 751 P.2d 1000, 1001–02 (App.1988) (resolving “conceptual problems” created by this distinction). In other contexts, this requirement has helped distinguish between residential and commercial structures found within or attached to another structure. Id. (laundry room within hotel); see also State v. Ekmanis, 183 Ariz. 180, 182–83, 901 P.2d 1210, 1212–13 (App.1995) (storage room attached to residence).

¶ 11 Bon also argues a truck bed cannot be burglarized because § 13–1501(12) does not expressly list the “parts of the vehicle as prohibited space.” She relies on a decision by the New Mexico Supreme Court rejecting a lower court's application of the plain meaning of “vehicle” in the context of a truck bed burglary.1 State v. Office of Public Defender ex rel. Muqqddin, 285 P.3d 622, ¶¶ 37–38 (N.M.2012). The court reasoned:

By giving the term “vehicle” its plain meaning, the meaning of the statute as a whole [becomes] far from customary. For example, if an ordinary person were told to “enter” a pickup, he or she would find a seat in the passenger compartment, not lay down in the bed of the pickup.

Id. ¶ 38. The court also noted that, unlike New Mexico, other jurisdictions explicitly include ‘any part of a vehicle,’ id. ¶ 37, quoting Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.04 (Vernon 2007), or ‘any part thereof,’ id. ¶ 37, quoting 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/19–1 (2010), in their burglary statutes. And, the court explained that, without similar language to clarify the New Mexico legislature's intent, the court would not resort to the ‘beguiling simplicity’ of a plain-language interpretation. Id. ¶ 38, quoting State ex rel. Helman v. Gallegos, 117 N.M. 346, 871 P.2d 1352, ¶ 23 (1994).

¶ 12 Bon's reliance on Muqqddin is unavailing. First, as the state points out, unlike other jurisdictions, our legislature has provided a statutory definition of “entry.” See § 13–1501(3). And, entry is not limited to those spaces a person might occupy. See Hinden, 224 Ariz. 508, ¶ 9, 233 P.3d at 623. Moreover, we disagree that the...

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  • State v. Bon
    • United States
    • Arizona Court of Appeals
    • November 28, 2014

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