You are here: / / GEORGIA BURGLARY STATUTE WAS EQUIVALENT TO A NEW YORK VIOLENT FELONY DESPITE...
,

GEORGIA BURGLARY STATUTE WAS EQUIVALENT TO A NEW YORK VIOLENT FELONY DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF AN EXPLICIT INTENT ELEMENT BECAUSE THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL TRESPASS INCLUDED A KNOWINGLY ELEMENT (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, reversing the appellate division, over a two-judge concurring opinion, determined a Georgia burglary statute was equivalent to a New York violent felony and therefore defendant was properly sentenced as and second violent felony offender. The Georgia statute does not explicitly include intent as an element. However, a lesser included offense (the Georgia criminal trespass statute) in the Georgia includes a “knowingly” element:

​

Under Georgia statutory law, “[a] crime is included in another crime” … — i.e., a crime is a lesser included offense of another crime — when, among other things, “[i]t is established by proof of the same or less than all the facts or a less culpable mental state than is required to establish the commission of the crime charged” … . …

​

Georgia statutory law further provides that “[a] person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she knowingly and without authority . . . [e]nters upon the land or premises of another person . . . for an unlawful purpose” … . Georgia case law, in turn, provides that criminal trespass is (and was at the time defendant violated the subject Georgia statute) a lesser included offense of burglary … . Inasmuch as the “lesser” Georgia crime of criminal trespass contains a “knowingly” mens rea … , the “entry” component of the “greater” Georgia burglary statute in question … necessarily must have a culpable mental state of at least “knowingly.” In other words, the mental state for the greater crime logically cannot be less than the mental state for the lesser crime and, for the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the Georgia crime corresponds to a New York violent felony … . People v Helms, 2017 NY Slip Op 08160, CtApp 11-20-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (GEORGIA BURGLARY STATUTE WAS EQUIVALENT TO A NEW YORK VIOLENT FELONY DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF AN EXPLICIT INTENT ELEMENT BECAUSE THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL TRESPASS INCLUDED A KNOWINGLY ELEMENT (CT APP))/SENTENCING (SECOND VIOLENT FELONY OFFENDER, GEORGIA BURGLARY STATUTE WAS EQUIVALENT TO A NEW YORK VIOLENT FELONY DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF AN EXPLICIT INTENT ELEMENT BECAUSE THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL TRESPASS INCLUDED A KNOWINGLY ELEMENT (CT APP))/SECOND VIOLENT FELONY OFFENDER (SENTENCING, GEORGIA BURGLARY STATUTE WAS EQUIVALENT TO A NEW YORK VIOLENT FELONY DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF AN EXPLICIT INTENT ELEMENT BECAUSE THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL TRESPASS INCLUDED A KNOWINGLY ELEMENT (CT APP))/

You might also like
DEFENDANT WAS NOT UNDULY PREJUDICED BY CODEFENDANT’S ATTORNEY’S SUMMATION-ARGUMENT THAT DEFENDANT WAS A SHOOTER AND THE CODEFENDANT WAS NOT; THE TRIAL EVIDENCE DID NOT POINT TO THAT CONCLUSION AND THE JURY WAS INSTRUCTED THAT SUMMATIONS ARE NOT EVIDENCE (CT APP).
RUNNING A DMV DATABASE SEARCH FOR A VEHICLE’S PLATE NUMBER IS NOT A SEARCH, THEREFORE THE DMV CHECK CAN BE RUN WITHOUT ANY ARTICULABLE REASON FOR STOPPING A VEHICLE.
WHETHER THE POLICE RECEIVED VOLUNTARY CONSENT TO ENTER AN APARTMENT IS A MIXED QUESTION OF LAW AND FACT WHICH THE COURT OF APPEALS WILL NOT REVIEW, TWO CONCURRING OPINIONS DEALT WITH AN ISSUE WHICH WAS NOT RAISED, WHETHER THE POLICE WENT TO THE APARTMENT INTENDING TO MAKE A WARRANTLESS ARREST (CT APP).
Use of Stolen New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) Key to Allow Persons to Enter the Subway System for a Small Fee Deprived the NYCTA of Its Property and Therefore Constituted Petit Larceny
A Defendant Who Has Been Found Mentally Unfit to Proceed To Trial Cannot Be Subjected to a Parole Revocation Proceeding
A GENERIC NEW YORK CHOICE OF LAW PROVISION IN A CONTRACT DOES NOT TRANSFORM ALL NEW YORK STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS INTO CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, HERE THE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONTRACT DID NOT MENTION BOND REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE LIEN LAW AND THE CHOICE OF LAW PROVISION COULD NOT BE USED TO READ THE LIEN LAW REQUIREMENT INTO THE CONTRACT (CT APP).
Counsel’s Failure to Object to Prosecutor’s PowerPoint Presentation Did Not Require Reversal for Ineffective Assistance
HEARING OFFICER FAILED TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL INQUIRY INTO INMATE WITNESS’S ALLEGATION HE WAS COERCED INTO REFUSING TO TESTIFY.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

CAYMAN ISLANDS RULE GOVERNING SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE ACTIONS IS PROCEDURAL,... DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED IN...