Discharging a Firearm Into Occupied Property: If People Are on the Porch, It's Occupied

G.S. 14-34.1 makes it a Class E felony to discharge a barreled weapon or firearm into occupied property. The offense is elevated to a Class D felony if the property is an occupied dwelling or occupied conveyance in operation, and to a Class C felony if the defendant causes serious bodily injury. Although the statute doesn’t define the term “occupied,” it’s been generally understood, by analogy to burglary, that property is occupied if someone actually is present there. In the recent case State v. Miles, the court of appeals clarified that a house is occupied if folks are on the porch when the weapon is discharged. In Miles, Clara Durham was on her porch with several family members when she heard gunshots and saw her grandson, Shawn Stamper, running toward the house. The defendant was following Stamper, firing at him. When Stamper reached the house, he ran behind it and reemerged on the other side, returning fire at the defendant. The defendant fired back towards the house at Stamper three times, striking the house twice. As the defendant fired towards the house, Durham and her family members tried to escape the gunfire by entering the house through the front door. Once inside, they called the police. The defendant was charged with discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. At trial he moved to dismiss, arguing that because the family was on the porch when the shots were fired, the house wasn’t occupied. In support of his argument, he asserted that the [...]