## Facts

- Thirteen-year-old L.D. (“Lola D.”) was invited to spend the night at her friend Maria’s house and was walking with Maria toward Maria’s home.
- As they approached the home of Angela France, Maria decided to stop there; Lola had no advance knowledge they were going to the France residence until they were near it.
- The girls repeatedly knocked at the front door, but no one answered.
- Lola opened the front door, which was not locked, and called out; no one responded.
- Lola entered the home, went into the kitchen, took a pack of cigarettes from the top of the refrigerator, and then left.
- The State of Ohio filed a juvenile delinquency complaint charging Lola with aggravated burglary under Ohio Rev. Code § 2911.11(A)(3), based on trespassing in a home with purpose to commit a theft offense.
- Lola maintained she did not have a purpose to steal at the time she entered; the State argued trespass is a continuing offense and that her later decision to steal became simultaneous with an ongoing trespass.

## Issues

1. Whether aggravated burglary under Ohio Rev. Code § 2911.11(A)(3) requires that the purpose to commit a theft offense exist at the time of the trespass (i.e., before or at entry), rather than arising later while the trespass continues.
2. Whether the evidence supported an aggravated burglary adjudication where there was no indication the juvenile intended to steal when she entered the residence.

## Decision

- The court held that, under § 2911.11(A)(3), the purpose to commit a theft offense must be contemporaneous with the trespass; the intent must exist before or at the time of entry.
- The court rejected the State’s theory that a later-formed intent during a “continuing trespass” satisfies the intent element for aggravated burglary.
- The court found no indication that Lola formed an intent to steal before entering the home.
- In the interest of justice, the court amended the complaint to conform to the conduct and mental state shown by the evidence, charging criminal trespass and petty theft instead of aggravated burglary.
- Lola was adjudicated delinquent for criminal trespass and petty theft, not aggravated burglary.

## Legal Principles

- Under Ohio Rev. Code § 2911.11(A)(3), aggravated burglary requires a trespass in a structure occupied as a home plus a purpose to commit a theft offense (or other qualifying offense) that exists at the time of the trespass.
- The statutory “purpose” element is not met where the intent to steal is formed only after entry; in that circumstance, the proven offenses may be trespass and theft rather than aggravated burglary.
- Ohio decisions had reached different outcomes on whether felonious purpose may develop after entry, but this court interpreted § 2911.11(A)(3) to require intent that coincides with the entry/trespass.
- In a juvenile delinquency matter, when the evidence does not establish the charged offense but does establish lesser offenses, the court may amend the complaint to reflect the offenses supported by the proof and proceed to disposition on those offenses.

## Conclusion

In re L.D. held that aggravated burglary under Ohio Rev. Code § 2911.11(A)(3) requires proof that the intent to commit theft existed when the juvenile trespassed into the home; because the record showed only that L.D. entered, then decided to take cigarettes, the court declined to treat the later-formed intent as enough for aggravated burglary and instead amended the complaint to criminal trespass and petty theft, adjudicating delinquency on those lesser offenses.


In re L.D., 63 Ohio Misc. 2d 303 (1993)