Fourth Degree Burglary

Each year there are countless 4th degree burglary arrests in the Ocean City area. Many cases involve intoxicated defendants who accidentally enter a residence they believed was their condo or house during a vacation. In many east coast college towns these cases are usually charged as trespass due to their frequency. However in Ocean City, the police more frequently just charge them as burglary. This burglary charge will now be on the internet for all to see and can have serious consequences if you don’t have an experienced lawyer with you the whole way. The law on fourth degree burglary states that it is a misdemeanor whereas the other three degrees of burglary are all felonies. A conviction can have drastic consequences including a maximum 3 year prison sentence, and a permanent criminal conviction. Attorney Clark has handled countless fourth degree burglary cases successfully in the Ocean City District Court and other lower shore counties.

A fourth degree charge makes it illegal for a person to break and enter the dwelling or storehouse of another. Storehouse is a term for any place where goods are stored or sold. This part of fourth degree burglary does not require that the person had any intent to commit a crime such as theft.

This law also prohibits being in the home of another or the storehouse of another with the intent to commit a crime. This part of the fourth degree burglary law takes out the breaking and entering part and replaces it with having the intent to commit a crime. As well this element includes the yard, garden, or driveway in this section. So, under state law you can be charged with burglary even if you never enter or attempt to enter the actual structure of the home or storehouse. Being in possession of a burglary tool with the intent to use it may also result in fourth degree burglary charge. Ocean City Attorney Brian H. Clark is ready to aggressively defend you and get your life back to normal.