Burglary is a very serious charge. When you will be convicted of this crime, you may spend a long time in prison as well as face fines and penalties. And once you are released from incarceration, you are subject to parole. When found guilty of burglary, your life can change forever. When you used a weapon when committing the crime or you killed or hurt someone in the process, your jail time gets longer and you face even more serious penalties. Your future and freedom depend on how strong your representation will be. This is why you need to hire an experienced Jersey City criminal defense attorney to represent you. After your arrest, you must contact an attorney immediately to increase your chances of achieving a favorable outcome.
Table of Contents
Major Elements of Burglary
A burglary occurs when you enter a property owned by someone else to commit a felony, assault, or theft inside. Proving this crime includes establishing the presence of the following elements:
- Unlawful entry. For you to be convicted of burglary, the prosecution should prove you entered a building, which can be a house, apartment, hospital, retail store, or professional business. An illegal entry includes entering a truck, car, freight, or trailer illegally. Also, unlawful entry covers hacking into somebody else’s computer at their house or office.
- Intent. You should have the intent to commit a crime to be found guilty of burglary. You should have this intent before you committed the illegal entry. When you entered a property without intent and you committed a crime, you can be charged the committed crime, not with burglary.
It is important to keep in mind that once you enter someone else’s property unlawfully, you can still be charged with burglary even if you did not commit theft, a felony, or assault. When you used force against an individual while committing burglary, you can also face a robbery charge.
Aggravating versus Mitigating Factors
Usually, the courts weigh a lot of factors or circumstances when they determine the appropriateness of penalties and sanctions for criminal actions. When there are aggravating factors, the convicted can face harsher penalties. Aggravating factor are weighed against mitigating factors to create weigh a balance. Mitigating factors offer justification for more lenient penalties or sanctions.
Courts will carefully take into account both aggravating and mitigating circumstances to properly assign a suitable penalty to a crime during sentencing. If you seriously want to defend yourself against a burglary charge, you must hire a good attorney to represent you.