Under California Penal Code Section 459, burglary is defined, while attempted crimes are defined under Penal Code Section 664. It's worth noting that attempted burglary charges are a rare occurrence. This is because when authorities suspect someone is attempting to burglarize a location, it's often straightforward to establish, especially in a residential burglary, if any part of the home's security plan is breached. 

Consider a scenario where tools are used to attempt to unlock a door in a home, but entry is not gained.  The alarm goes off,  the occupants are present, and the perpetrators flee.  Despite the unsuccessful entry, this still constitutes a burglary case.  The act of breaking into another person's dwelling house with the intent to commit a felony inside is the key element here.

So, once you break that plane, that's the breaking part, and it shows that you were trying to get into the house to steal something inside, which is a felony. You're looking at a full-fledged burglary.

Understanding what constitutes a substantial step in an attempted burglary is crucial. In most cases, this step, which is necessary to effectuate the crime, involves physically approaching the house and attempting to break in, only to retreat. This is distinct from merely contemplating the act.

So, it would have to be a scenario where the authorities can prove that you were trying to break into a home, for example, if it's a residential attempted burglary, but that you never violated the plain or, you know, did anything regarding that.  Our Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys will discuss this topic in more detail below.

Other examples of burglary include a second-degree burglary, where you attempt to break into a car, store, or similar location but don't complete the act. This is distinct from a full-fledged burglary, which occurs when you enter the location with the intent to steal.

So, with attempted burglary, the critical language in any attempted crime is, did you take a substantial step towards trying to commit the crime? Then, you get into an argument over what is a considerable step, and of course, a lot of this stuff will depend upon the facts and circumstances of the case.

Just because a location appears to be a target for robbery or burglary doesn't necessarily mean that it is.  You must demonstrate that they have taken some steps toward doing so.  Let's say that somebody had a mask.  It was late at night.  They jumped over somebody's fence.

They had a bag to take away all the goodies.  They had a crowbar to break the door, and then they got cold feet and ran away.  But suppose they got caught in the perimeter of that house. In that case, that's going to be attempted burglary because now you've taken a substantial step towards committing that burglary, and you're going to put yourself in a position where the authorities are going to be able to arrest you and prosecute you for that. This could have serious legal implications.

Attempting to Commit a Burglary Crime but Don't Complete it

So, the bottom line, if you just look at it in layman's terms of what Penal Code Section 459/664, which is the attempted burglary charge for Los Angeles, has to do with does it looks like someone is trying to commit a crime, but they just don't get away with the offense for one reason or another.  Maybe somebody spots them.  Maybe somebody yells at them.

Perhaps someone is at home in a residence and realizes it, so they run away.  There are various circumstances.  However, in the end, if a jury examines this and evaluates it, they will likely conclude that the person intended to commit burglary but failed to do so for some reason. Proving intent is a crucial part of the legal process.

If the answer is yes and they prove it, they can charge you with attempted burglary.  If it's questionable — perhaps the person had an innocent reason for what they were doing — then you might be able to present a defense to the attempted burglary charge and argue that you weren't trying to commit that act. I was trying to do this, and this is lawful.  Just because you think I might have been doing something wrong is not enough to convict me of attempted burglary.