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96 N.M. 366

630 P.2d 765

State v. Ervin

New Mexico Court of Appeals

Decided June 9, 1981

New Mexico Court of Appeals · decided 1981-06-09

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“The common law definition of dwelling house holds that a building is not a dwelling before the first occupant has moved in; nor does it continue to be a dwelling after the last occupant has moved out with no intention of returning.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including In re Hamilton

“The defendant did not make a tender nor was there evidence which would make this amplification a critical determination.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Mascarenas

Relies on Jackson v. Virginia · State v. Calanche · Moss v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1981-06-09

How this case has been cited

Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently September 2021

2 federal appellate · 12 state decisions

4019811990200020102020decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1 OPINION

HENDLEY, Judge.

¶2 Convicted of burglary of a dwelling house, defendant appeals. He contends the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion for a directed verdict because the unoccupied house in question was not a “dwelling house” for purposes of § 30-16-3(A), N.M.S.A.1978.

¶3 Since this ease was assigned to the legal calendar, we accept the facts recited in the docketing statement as true. State v. Calanche, 91 N.M. 390, 574 P.2d 1018 (Ct.App. 1978). There was testimony that for more than one year the burglarized house had not been occupied. Gas, water and electricity were not being supplied to the house. Mattresses were stacked against the dining room walls and windows. The owner of the house stated that her aunt, the previous occupant, was advanced in years and extremely infirm. There was no testimony that the aunt did not expect to return.

¶4 We agree with defendant that New Mexico has not expressly defined a “dwelling house”. Our burglary statute merely differentiates between residential burglary and burglary of other structures. The common law definition of dwelling house holds that a building is not a dwelling before the first occupant has moved in; nor does it continue to be a dwelling after the last occupant has moved out with no intention of returning. Perkins on Criminal Law, p. 157 (1957); 3 Burdick, Law of Crime, § 694 (1946); Clark and Marshall, A Treatise on the Law of Crimes, § 13.02 (6th ed. 1958). See also, Annot., at 85 A.L.R. 428 (1933) and 78 A.L.R.2d 778 (1961).

¶5 Defendant contends that the facts of the prior occupant’s age and infirmity indicated that “she would not re-occupy the house in the foreseeable future.” Assuming this to be a permissible inference, it is not the common law test to establish whether a building is a residence. There was no evidence that the occupant had abandoned the house or had no intention of returning. Compare, Hobby v. State, 480 S.W.2d 554 (Tenn.Cr.App.1972); Hargett v. State, 534 S.W.2d 909 (Tex.Cr.1976); State v. Matson, 3 Or.App. 518, 475 P.2d 436 (1970). Contrast, Moss v. State, 574 S.W.2d 542 (Tex. Cr.App.1978). Defendant was not entitled to an acquittal.

¶6 Finally, defendant contends that Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), requires evidence necessary to convince a trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of every element of the offense. Reliance on Jackson v. Virginia is misplaced. The omission, if any in this case, was that of an amplification of the elements of the offense. Such an omission is not error. State v. Padilla, 90 N.M. 481, 565 P.2d 352 (Ct. App.1977). The jury was instructed, without objection, in the language of N.M.U.J.I. Crim. 16.21, N.M.S.A.1978: “A ‘dwelling house’ is any structure, any part of which is customarily used as living quarters.” Under the facts recited in the docketing statement, this instruction adequately instructed the jury on the essential elements to return a verdict of guilty of burglary of a dwelling house. The defendant did not make a tender nor was there evidence which would make this amplification a critical determination. In light of the foregoing, we find no basis for defendant’s claim. Accordingly, we affirm.

¶7 IT IS SO ORDERED.

LOPEZ and WALTERS, JJ., concur.
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