Rizia v. State

Moylan, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant, Michael Rizia, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Talbot County by a jury, presided over by Judge James A. Wise, of breaking a storehouse and stealing therefrom goods of the value of $5 or more. He does not contest the establishment of his criminal agency generally, but relies upon the fine point that the premises he burglarized was a dwelling and not a storehouse. The record in this case would be significantly enhanced if it included a diagram or photograph of the victimized premises.

It may be gleaned from testimony, however, that Charles Russell Porter owned a building which served as both his residence and his place of business. The original part of the structure is a bungalow measuring 24 feet by 36 feet which is the residence of Mr. Porter. Built onto that bungalow is a structure measuring 50 feet by 20 feet in which and from which Mr. Porter conducts his business of selling package liquors, groceries and gasoline. The store part of the building is divided into two rooms, one the store proper and the other a storage room.

The residence part of the over-all building has several doors leading to the outside which are not connected with the store in any fashion. In turn, the store section of the over-all building apparently had one or more doors leading to the outside, totally unconnected with the residence. The complicating architectural feature was that an enclosed porch served as a common vestibule and avenue of ingress to both the rear of the residence (the kitchen) and the rear of the store. It is clear from the evidence that the appellant and ³²⁸ his accomplice broke and entered the enclosed porch by, at the very least, opening the closed door leading from the outside to that porch.

Once inside the enclosed porch area, the sequence of events is ambiguous. From the testimony of the daughter of the store owner, the inference could well have been drawn that the burglars went directly from the enclosed porch area through a door leading from the porch into the store itself. The testimony of the accomplice was, on the other hand, that the two burglars went from the enclosed porch area through another door which led into the kitchen of the Porter residence. According to that testimony, the burglars then proceeded from the