Committing Burglary While Intoxicated on Drugs

[lawfacts]

If you are arrested for burglary, can you use your intoxication at the time as a defense to the charge?

[Mr. Knowitall]

As a general rule, voluntary intoxication is not a defense to a crime.

With severe intoxication there may be a diminished capacity defense, but the problem is that if you actually commit an act beyond the unlawful entry that supports a burglary conviction it's difficult to argue that you were not able to form criminal intent.

It may be a defense that the person was so intoxicated that they entered the wrong house or apartment, in which case they can try to argue that the proper charge is trespass, but again if they committed the additional criminal act that is required to transform a trespass into a burglary or home invasion that seems unlikely to work.

Obviously, this is an issue to discuss in detail with a criminal defense lawyer, based upon the detailed facts and exact criminal charge.