State v. Perez-Salas

Where a building consists of separate units, including but not limited to, separate apartments, offices, or rented rooms, each unit, in addition to being a part of the same building, is a separate building.

Defendant was convicted of first-degree burglary after he broke into his sister’s bedroom in the house where they both lived. Defendant argued that the trial court erred because his sister’s locked bedroom, in the same house where he lived, is not a separate “building” or “dwelling” for the purpose of the burglary statute. The State argued that the bed-room was a “rented room,” which constituted a "separate unit or building" under ORS 164.205(1), and, thus, a dwelling, see ORS 164.205(2). Where a building consists of separate units, including but not limited to, separate apartments, offices, or rented rooms, each unit, in addition to being a part of the same building, is a separate building. Defendant was not permitted to be in his sister’s bedroom, and she made that very clear. Defendant admitted to kicking in the locked door to her bedroom. There were individual rooms which each occupant considered their own living space, they could be considered separate and private units. A locked door of a rented room is sufficient to be considered separate. Nothing in the record suggested that this was a “family residence.” Affirmed.