Many people are familiar with the term “breaking and entering,” but may not know exactly what it means. It is often loosely used on television shows and in crime novels to describe property crimes, but without specifically providing a definition for the particular crime. In Texas, breaking and entering is not actually the technical term for the crime of wrongly entering someone’s property and stealing something; instead, Texas uses the terms “burglary” and “criminal trespass.” However, in Texas, you may also hear people use the term “breaking and entering” and you can generally understand it to mean the same thing as burglary and criminal trespass.
Understanding Burglary and Criminal Trespass
Burglary and criminal trespass are crimes of entering a home, building, or vehicle without the permission of the owner with the intent to commit a crime such as theft or assault. Specifically, criminal trespass is entering or remaining on property without the consent of the owner, while burglary is going onto that property with the intent to commit a crime.
However, someone who does not successfully commit a theft or assault while trespassing on private property may still be convicted of burglary. Indeed, someone who even reaches their hand into a window and gropes about for something to take can be convicted of both criminal trespass and burglary, even if they did not actually grab and take anything.
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