In People v. Barringer , John Barringer was sentenced to three to six years in prison after being convicted of two counts of burglary in the third degree.
Upon arriving at Broom County's Giant Market, officers discovered the front door broken, 27 cartons of cigarettes stolen, and a damaged cash register. Soon thereafter, when a local laundry store's security alarm was activated, police found Barringer hiding inside.
After a Broome County Court found Barringer guilty, he appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department, challenging the "legal sufficiency and weight of the evidence."
Photographs from the scene showed Barringer was in the store after its glass had been shattered with a brick and, according to the AD3, one could infer Barringer intended to commit a larceny. While he argued the verdict was "inconsistent with the jury's inability to reach a verdict on the petit larceny count," the AD3 didn't agree because burglary only requires intent whereas petit larceny requires "proof of actual commissions of the crime."
The AD3 also didn't grant Barringer's request to "charge trespass as a lesser included offense to the charge of burglary." In order to establish entitlement to that relief, Barringer needed to prove that it was "impossible to commit the greater crime without concomitantly committing the lesser offense by the same conduct" and "there must be a reasonable view of the evidence to support a finding that the defendant committed the lesser offense but not the greater." Barringer failed to satisfy that two-part test because there was no evidence he lacked the intent to commit a crime against Crescent Cleaners. And finally, since the sentence was not seen as harsh or excessive, the AD3 shattered any hope for Barringer there as well.
Talk about taking someone to the cleaners.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Barringer