Nguyen

The primary issue in this case is whether Nguyen committed burglary when he entered a house with the intent to steal property by giving the victim a worthless check in exchange for various items. We conclude the conduct constitutes burglary.

Hung Hao Nguyen was convicted of three counts of burglary (Pen. Code, § 459). In each count the victim advertised an item for sale in a local newspaper. Nguyen responded to the advertisements. The victims allowed Nguyen inside their homes. Once inside Nguyen negotiated a price for the items and paid by check. In each case, Nguyen wrote a check on an account he had earlier personally closed. The purchase price of the items ran from $135 to $560.

On appeal, Nguyen contends his conduct did not constitute burglary and that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing argument.

Discussion

I

Burglary

Section 459 defines the offense of burglary as follows: “Every person who enters any house . . . with intent to commit grand or petit larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary.”

Nguyen first argues, based on a historical and semantic analysis of the law of burglary and larceny, that his conduct does not constitute burglary…