placeCityButler v. State

Evidence that the defendant broke the rear door frame of a deployed soldier's home, stole various items and sold the items to three different retail stores specializing in buying and selling used goods was sufficient to support his burglary conviction.

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Following a jury trial, Bobby Butler, Jr. was convicted of burglary. He appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a similar transaction and in failing to instruct the jury with his requests to charge. We find no error and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict, the evidence adduced at trial showed that on a weekday afternoon in April 2006, the police were summoned to the scene of a residential burglary in the Kensington Point subdivision. The owner of the home was on active military duty in Afghanistan at the time of the burglary. The victim’s 14-year-old son returned home after school to discover that the frame on the rear door of the home had been broken and various items of electrical equipment, DVD movies, video games, basketball jerseys, baseball caps, purses and jewelry had been taken.

The subsequent investigation led the responding officer to broadcast a lookout for a white vehicle of a specified make and model having specific characteristics that would possibly be occupied by five named individuals, including Butler. The vehicle was later located and was indeed occupied by the same five individuals named in the broadcast. The trunk of the vehicle was filled with electrical equipment, DVD movies, video games, basketball jerseys, baseball caps, purses, jewelry and a large green military duffle bag. The stop was recorded on the officer’s vehicle-mounted video recorder and the contents of the trunk were photographed; both were shown to the jury.

placeCityButler v. State

Evidence that the defendant broke the rear door frame of a deployed soldier's home, stole various items and sold the items to three different retail stores specializing in buying and selling used goods was sufficient to support his burglary conviction.

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