Mississippi Model Jury Instructions- Criminal
CHAPTER 3 DEFINITIONS (A-L)
329 Dwelling House
A dwelling house is an apartment, building, house, or room which the owner considers to be [his/her] dwelling or in which [he/she] intends to live. Any building or structure connected to a dwelling house is considered part of the dwelling house.
Sources
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-17-31.
Sheffield v. State, 881 So. 2d 249, 254 (Miss. Ct. App. 2003) (A “dwelling” is defined as “every building joined to, immediately connected with, or being part of the dwelling house, shall be deemed the dwelling house.” In Edwards v. State, 800 So. 2d 454, 461 (Miss. 2001), the court held the intention of the dweller is material in determining whether a building is characterized as a dwelling under the statute. The house of a person who was confined to a nursing home is considered a dwelling if the house remains furnished and there is an intent to return.).
Washington v. State, 753 So. 2d 475, 477 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999) (The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that “a person may simultaneously have two dwellings subject to burglary and sometimes reside with his family in one and sometimes in the other. The breach of one of them in the absence of his family would still be burglary.” The intention of the dweller is the material consideration in determining whether a building may be characterized as a dwelling for purposes of the burglary statute. A temporary absence does not destroy the character of a home as a dwelling if the dweller leaves with the intent to return.).
Course v. State, 469 So. 2d 80, 81 (Miss. 1985) (Code section 97-17-31, styled “Burglary-dwelling house defined,” reads as follows: Every building joined to, immediately connected with, or being part of the dwelling house, shall be deemed the dwelling house. We therefore see that the Legislature in this section, passed in 1848, did not see fit to extend the term “dwelling house” beyond the normal understanding of the meaning of that term. In 13 Am. Jur., Burglary section 3 (1964), we find the following: A dwelling house has been variously defined as the apartment, room in a hotel, building or cluster of buildings in which a man with his family resides, or any permanent building in which a man may dwell and lie.).
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