Cooper v. People

Defendant, Samuel W. Cooper, appeals from a judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of second degree burglary under section 18-4-203, 6 C.R.S. (1998). The statute defines the offense of second degree burglary as an unlawful entry or unlawful presence in an occupied building coupled with the intent to commit some other crime on the premises (the “ulterior offense”). We granted certio-rari to consider whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could convict Cooper if it found that he had formed the intent to commit the underlying offense after…