Trump Burglary Suspect On the Loose

Loudoun County law enforcement agencies are looking for a white man who broke into the Trump 2024 campaign headquarters in Ashburn.

The LCSO was contacted about the burglary yesterday at approximately 9:00 pm and deputies responded. The investigation is ongoing, and the LCSO has video surveillance of the suspect. He is a white adult male, wearing dark clothing, a dark cap, and a backpack when he entered the location.

“It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into,” said Sheriff Mike Chapman. “We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind.”

Identifying Suspects

During their investigations, police officers typically use the same suspect identification approach. The usual approach has legal flaws that a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer can use to invalidate this part of the investigation. If the foundation is bad, the house cannot stand.

Frequently, investigators over-rely on informants who received money or leniency in another matter in exchange for their “cooperation.” Since many people will say almost anything for love or money, the uncorroborated testimony of a paid informant is almost inherently unreliable.

This information might be accurate, but there’s a difference between reliability and accuracy. A blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut.

Anonymous tipster-provided information is almost as unreliable. A Leesburg criminal defense lawyer cannot cross-examine anonymous tipsters to gauge their reliability. Anonymous tipsters usually know that, which is generally why they don’t give their names.

Moreover, police officers rarely inform voluntary, or semi-voluntary, tipsters of their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. If that’s the case, any evidence investigators find as a result of the illegal interrogation, such as a burglary suspect, is fruit from a poisonous tree and therefore inadmissible.

Informant-provided information may not hold up in court, but there’s an immediate concern. Investigators typically use this information to obtain arrest warrants. Investigators must only have probable cause, which is a lower standard of evidence than the standard of evidence at trial. Arrest warrants are valid until served. There’s no expiration date.

Once a court issues an arrest warrant, it’s usually best for defendants to voluntarily surrender. However, in some cases, an attorney can lift the warrant.

Burglary Charges in Florida

The definition of burglary in Florida Statute 810.02(4)(a) is rather complex. The law addresses four kinds of burglary (occupied dwelling, unoccupied dwelling, occupied structure, unoccupied structure). The unoccupied structure burglary penalties are lower, but this offense is still a third degree felony (up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and/or a $5,000 fine).

Burglary is unlawfully entering a structure, remaining inside a structure surreptitiously, or remaining in a structure after permission to remain has been withdrawn with the intent to commit a crime inside. Several defenses are available, including:

• Bystander: A lookout is guilty of burglary conspiracy. But a bystander, even someone who knows something about the burglary, usually isn’t guilty of anything. Instead, the second person consciously did some act or said some word that incited, caused, assisted, or encouraged the first person to commit the illegal act.
• Lack of Intent to Commit a Crime: Prosecutors typically use action to prove intent, which in this case is stealthily entering a building. Entering a building with a live security camera isn’t very stealthy.
• Consent: Consent to enter is not an element of the offense, but is an affirmative defense to the crime. A defendant has the burden to offer evidence of consent. Once such evidence of consent is presented, the prosecutor must disprove the consent to enter the dwelling beyond a reasonable doubt. This defense often holds up in court if multiple people use the dwelling, and one of them gives the defendant consent to enter or use the dwelling. Once issued, consent is valid until expressly revoked.

Open to the public is a subset of the consent defense. By definition, a person consensually enters such a structure, regardless of his/her subjective intentions. Once again, the right to remain inside is implied unless the state provest the implied consent to “remain inside” was withdrawn.

Reach Out to a Detail-Oriented Loudoun County Lawyer

There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. Convenient payment plans are available.

Source:

loudoun.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=9286