Valencia

A jury convicted Cuahutemoc Sanchez Valencia of burglary, but we hold he did not "enter" the victim's house when he only removed a window screen and no part of his body passed the closed window beyond. Accordingly, the conviction must be reduced to attempted burglary.

Lee Florea returned to his Santa Ana home around lunchtime on February 4, 1998, to find the screen of his bathroom window on the ground and a bedroom screen slightly askew. There were pry marks the width of a screwdriver head on the bedroom window frame "where a tool had been inserted between the window frame and the sliding part of the window" and what "looked like rub marks from a hand trying to push the [bathroom] window open." The windows remained closed and locked. Florea's neighbor across the street had called 911 after she saw defendant remove the screen and attempt to open the window with a tool. He also tried to open a door and banged a wall in frustration. Police officers found a screwdriver with a bent shank and blade and some black gloves in his pants pocket.

During jury voir dire and while explaining various legal concepts (burden of proof, reasonable doubt), the court sought to convey the…