Kenneth Anthony Gore v Commonwealth of Virginia

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: 	Judges Coleman, Bray and Bumgardner
Argued at Chesapeake, Virginia
KENNETH ANTHONY GORE
MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY
v. 	Record No. 1393-99-1 	JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III
APRIL 4, 2000
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Johnny E. Morrison, Judge
Dianne G. Ringer, Senior Assistant Public
Defender, for appellant.
Leah A. Darron, Assistant Attorney General
(Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on brief),
for appellee.
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, recodifying Code
§ 17-116.010, this opinion is not designated for publication.
Kenneth Anthony Gore was convicted in a bench trial of
statutory burglary with intent to commit assault in violation of
Code § 18.2-91. 	He argues that the evidence is insufficient to
prove that he entered the dwelling with the requisite intent. 	We
disagree and affirm the conviction.
BACKGROUND
On October 8, 1998, at approximately 10:45 p.m., Kenneth
Gore, his sister, Patricia Gore, and his niece, Angelica Gore,
went to Althea Wallace's residence. 	Wallace heard a knock on the
front door. 	She opened her front door and stood behind the locked

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screen door. 	When she opened the door, Gore asked Wallace if she
"[had] a problem with [his] sister." 	Wallace responded that
"[she] didn't have time for it" and slammed the front door shut.
As Wallace returned to her back bedroom, she heard the sound of
someone breaking through the screen door and kicking in the front
door. 	Wallace came out of the bedroom to find Kenneth Gore
entering the house. 	Wallace became frightened and fled the house
through the back door of her bedroom.
Wallace testified that earlier that evening she had a
confrontation with Patricia and Angelica Gore regarding the man
that both Wallace and Patricia Gore were dating.
Angelica and Patricia Gore both testified that they had
exchanged words with Wallace less than an hour before confronting
her. 	Angelica Gore stated that after the earlier confrontation,
she asked Kenneth Gore to accompany her and Patricia Gore to
Wallace's residence. 	Patricia Gore stated that she went to
Wallace's residence "to resolve a conflict" they had earlier that
day. 	Angelica and Patricia Gore testified that although Kenneth
Gore kicked in the front door, he never entered the residence.
ANALYSIS
Gore, conceding that the evidence is sufficient to prove that
he entered the residence, argues that the Commonwealth failed to
prove that he broke and entered the residence with the intent to
assault Wallace.

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On review of a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence,
we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the
Commonwealth, the prevailing party, and grant to it all reasonable
inferences fairly deducible therefrom. 	See Commonwealth v.
Jenkins, 255 Va. 516, 521, 499 S.E.2d 263, 265 (1998). 	"The
judgment of a trial court sitting without a jury is entitled to
the same weight as a jury verdict, and will not be disturbed on
appeal unless plainly wrong or without evidence to support it."
Beck v. Commonwealth, 2 Va. App. 170, 172, 342 S.E.2d 642, 643
(1986) (citation omitted).
In a prosecution for statutory burglary under Code § 18.2-91,
proof that the accused unlawfully entered another's dwelling
supports an inference that the entry was made for an unlawful
purpose. 	See Black v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 838, 840, 284 S.E.2d
608, 609 (1981). 	The specific intent with which the unlawful
entry is made may be inferred from the surrounding facts and
circumstances. 	See Scott v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 519, 524, 323
S.E.2d 572, 575 (1984). 	"The fact finder may draw reasonable
inferences from the evidence that the perpetrator intended to
commit one felony rather than another." 	Black, 222 Va. at 841,
282 S.E.2d at 609 (citation omitted); see also Scott, 228 Va. at
524, 323 S.E.2d at 575. 	"'Intent is a state of mind that may be
proved by an accused's acts or by his statements and that may be

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shown by circumstantial evidence.'" 	Wilson v. Commonwealth, 249
Va. 95, 101, 452 S.E.2d 669, 673-74 (1995) (citations omitted).
Here, the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the
Commonwealth proved that Wallace and Patricia Gore were dating the
same man and that they had exchanged words on several occasions.
At approximately 10:00 p.m. on October 28, 1998, Patricia Gore and
Wallace again argued over their mutual boyfriend. 	Within an hour
after the incident, Angelica Gore asked Kenneth Gore to accompany
her and Patricia to Wallace's residence to confront Wallace about
her relationship with the mutual boyfriend and to confront her
about threats she had made earlier that evening. 	Kenneth Gore
knocked on the front door and asked Wallace if she "[had] a
problem with [his] sister." 	After Wallace refused to speak with
Gore, she slammed the front door shut. 	Gore broke through the
screen door, kicked in the front door, and entered the residence.
Wallace became frightened for her safety and fled the residence.
The fact finder reasonably could have inferred that Kenneth
Gore had the intent to assault Wallace when he kicked down the
front door and entered the residence. 	Kenneth Gore's unlawful
entry into the residence supports the inference that he entered
with an unlawful purpose, and the surrounding circumstances
support an inference that he entered with an intent to assault

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Wallace. 	Accordingly, we find the evidence sufficient to support
the conviction and affirm.
Affirmed.