BLACKBURN, Senior Appellate Judge.
In this discretionary appeal, David Casper challenges the revocation of his probation, contending that the trial court erred in holding that the evidence supported the finding that Casper violated his probation by committing a burglary. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
"A court may not revoke any part of any probated or suspended sentence ... unless the evidence produced at the revocation hearing establishes by a preponderance of the evidence the violation or violations alleged." OCGA § 42-8-34.1(b). "This court will not interfere with a revocation unless there has been a manifest abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court." (Punctuation omitted.) Mullens v. State.
So viewed, the record shows that on July 9, 1996, David Casper was convicted of aggravated assault on a police officer, driving under the influence, reckless conduct, and attempting to elude. Casper received a 20-year sentence, with 12 years to be served in confinement and the remainder to be served on probation. Some time after dark on October 3, 2009, a witness, who lived in an apartment across the street, saw Casper and a female companion exit the female's duplex apartment and enter a neighboring apartment, which the witness knew had been recently vacated by the most recent tenant. A few minutes later, the witness saw Casper and the female exit the apartment and saw that Casper was carrying a television set. Believing that Casper and the female were burglarizing the vacant apartment, the witness walked across the street to the apartment, demanded that Casper put the television down, and told Casper that he would be
When the police arrived, they arrested Casper and his female companion and contacted the property manager, who arrived shortly thereafter. The property manager knew Casper and the female, having recently shown them the neighboring apartment and having rented that apartment to the female. However, he denied giving them or anyone else permission to enter the vacant apartment. Upon inspecting the apartment with the police, the property manager discovered that a screen to one of the windows at the back of the apartment was lying on the ground and had a fist-sized hole in it.
The State filed a petition for revocation of Casper's probation, alleging that Casper had violated the terms of his probation by committing the felony of burglary. The trial court held a hearing, after which it found that Casper violated his probation by committing the burglary and ordered him to serve the remainder of his probated sentence in confinement. Casper applied for a discretionary appeal, which we granted. This appeal followed.
In his sole enumeration of error, Casper contends that the evidence did not support the trial court's finding that he committed a burglary. Specifically, he argues that the State failed to prove that he entered the vacant apartment without authority. We disagree.
"A person commits the offense of burglary when, without authority and with the intent to commit a felony or theft therein, he enters or remains within the dwelling house of another..." OCGA § 16-7-1(a). "`Without authority' is defined as without legal right or privilege or without permission of a person legally entitled to withhold the right." (Punctuation omitted.) Abney v. State.
In this matter, the property manager for the subject apartment testified that the former tenant had abandoned the apartment several weeks prior to the burglary but had left many of his belongings there. Consequently, the property manager locked the apartment's door. The property manager also testified that, while showing the neighboring apartment to Casper and his female companion, he informed Casper that the apartment in question had been recently abandoned by its tenant. However, he further testified that he had not given anyone permission to enter the recently vacated apartment. "We have held that the testimony of an agent or caretaker of the property is sufficient to show that an entry was unauthorized." Abney, supra, 240 Ga.App. at 281(1), 523 S.E.2d 362 (evidence supported burglary conviction where elderly homeowner's son testified that defendant was without authority to enter vacant home); Wilson v. State
Judgment affirmed.
BARNES, P.J., and PHIPPS, P.J., concur.