California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Merchain, B205510 (Cal. App. 2/26/2009), B205510 (Cal. App. 2009):
The evidence established that Merchain committed burglary as defined by the instructions given at trial. The court gave the following burglary instruction: "To prove that the defendant is guilty of [burglary], the People must prove that[:] [] 1. the defendant entered a room within a building; and [] 2. when she entered a room within a building, she intended to commit attempted murder and/or assault with a deadly weapon. . . . [] A burglary was committed if the defendant entered with the intent to commit attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon." The court also instructed the jury that, "First degree burglary is the entry of an inhabited house or a room within an inhabited house or part of a building. A house or part of a building is inhabited if someone uses it as a dwelling, whether or not someone is inside at the time of the alleged entry. [] A house includes any structure that is attached to a house and functionally connected with it." Merchain did not object to these instructions, and on appeal, she "fails to identify any incorrect statement of the law within the instructions given," so she has waived any challenge to them. (People v. Parson (2008) 44 Cal.4th 332, 352 ["`[I]f defendant believed the instructions required clarification or modification, it was incumbent upon [her] to request it'"].)
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