Charged With Burglary of a Religious Building After Riding With Others Who Committed It

Attorney Answer

Under Louisiana law, simply riding along with people who later commit a burglary — and only learning about it after the fact — is not enough, by itself, to convict you; the state generally has to show some act of assistance or specific intent to help commit the crime, and you describe leaving before anything happened and having no role in it.

Under La. R.S. 14:62, simple burglary is the unauthorized entry of a dwelling, vehicle, watercraft, or other structure, or a cemetery, with intent to commit a felony or theft inside. Ask your lawyer to check the bill of information for the exact statute charged, because Louisiana no longer has a separate offense of simple burglary of a religious building: former R.S. 14:62.6 was repealed by 2017 La. Acts No. 281, § 3, and is no longer on the books. The current R.S. 14:62 contains no religious-building paragraph — its only enhanced penalties are for an offender armed with a firearm and for multiple burglaries committed in a continuous sequence (statute as of publication). That matters to any plea decision: the repealed religious-building provision carried a two-year mandatory minimum with at least two years to be served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, and that exposure does not attach today. Lack of participation and lack of intent to aid are defense theories worth raising through counsel; they are not a guaranteed result, and how the facts come out in the record will matter.

What you can do:

1. Retain a criminal defense attorney immediately, before any further questioning — you already gave a voluntary statement to police without a lawyer present, and anything you said can be used against you.

2. Confirm your current status: if you've been arrested, an attorney can address bail and arraignment; if you received a summons, they can appear with you at the first court date; if you're only under investigation, they can contact investigators on your behalf and stop further direct questioning.

3. Do not write out your own account of what happened. Notes you create yourself are not protected by attorney-client privilege, can be seized or subpoenaed, and can be used to impeach you if your testimony later differs. Instead preserve the records that already exist — texts, call logs, emails, receipts, photos and location history — along with the names and contact details of any witnesses, and give your account to your attorney verbally.

4. Avoid discussing the case further with police, the informant, or the others involved until you have counsel.