Criminal Trespassing

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We usually think of trespassing as a property issue for redress in the civil courts. But states routinely define trespass under certain circumstances as a chargeable crime. In certain circumstances, criminal trespass can be a serious crime. A conviction for criminal trespass can have serious consequences, not only in the criminal penalties, including incarceration and hefty fines, but also in the collateral consequences on child custody, employment, and other interests and rights. Don’t take criminal trespassing charges lightly just because trespassing sounds like a property issue. Retain the Lento Law Group’s premier criminal defense attorneys.

Elements of Criminal Trespassing

A civil trespass may involve any unauthorized invasion of another’s building or lands, even one in which the defendant believes himself or herself to be on the defendant’s own land. By contrast, a criminal trespass generally requires the defendant to knowingly enter or remain on another’s land after the owner has forbidden the defendant to do so.

Criminal trespass, though, may include either a knowing unauthorized entry onto another’s land or an entry with consent but then knowingly overstaying one’s welcome when forbidden to do so. Whichever the circumstances, the defendant must generally know that the defendant does not have the owner’s authority to remain on the land. In that sense, criminal trespass is generally a specific intent crime, one in which the defendant must know of the wrong and intend the wrong.

Examples of Criminal Trespassing

Criminal trespass can occur on residential, commercial, industrial, or even open recreational lands. Criminal trespass can also occur on public lands, after governing authorities have prohibited public access, or on private lands generally open to the public, after the private owner has closed access or ejected the defendant. Criminal trespass can also occur under circumstances where the defendant intends some crime on the land or just wishes to enter the land without the owner’s consent for recreational or other innocent reasons. Examples of criminal trespass include:

a thief enters a home through an open back door intending to steal something from within the home but flees on the homeowner’s arrival;
a neighbor enters a residence without permission to snoop around, mistakenly believing the homeowner to be away;
a hunter enters lands clearly marked as private property and no hunting, believing the landowner won’t catch the hunter;
a homeless person enters an industrial building for a place to sleep, after security guards had previously warned to stay out because of dangers;
a retailer enters a competitor’s open shop, and when the shop owner tells the retailer to leave, the retailer sneaks back in another entrance;
a homeowner forbids a daughter’s boyfriend to return to the home, but the boyfriend sneaks in through a back window;
a college student hides in a locker room until after staff closes and locks the building, to sneak around using the pool and gymnasium; or
an employer fires a technician and escorts the technician off the premises with orders not to return, but the technician sneaks back in to copy computer files.

Consequences of Criminal Trespassing

Criminal trespass convictions can carry both criminal penalties and collateral civil consequences. While any criminal penalty, even a short jail stay, can be severe, the collateral consequences of a criminal trespass conviction may be more serious than the criminal penalty. Consider the following potential consequences when evaluating what time, energy, and resources to devote to your criminal defense. Don’t underestimate the seriousness of criminal trespassing charges.

Penalties for Criminal Trespassing

A conviction for criminal trespass is ordinarily a misdemeanor. Misdemeanors may carry penalties of up to one year in jail and a fine of a few hundred dollars. But criminal trespass misdemeanors often carry a maximum jail sentence of only thirty days for a first offense without other related offenses or aggravating circumstances.

On the other hand, trespass onto specially sensitive lands, such as an electrical power station or military site, an emergency site to which law enforcement or other public officials have restricted access, or site housing a vulnerable population, may qualify as a felony carrying much stiffer penalties. Beware circumstances enhancing the charge and carrying the potential for long-term incarceration, stiff fines, and years of probation.

Trespassing Consequences for Employment

A conviction for criminal trespass can also carry employment consequences. Criminal trespass conviction displays disrespect for property and legal rights. Depending on the conviction’s context, professional licensing boards may construe a criminal trespass conviction as a crime endangering client, patient, or public safety. You could lose a professional license or vocational certification over a criminal trespass conviction. Even if you retain your license or don’t need a license for your job, you could lose your job because your employer no longer trusts you to respect property rights. If you are self-employed, you could likewise lose clients, patients, or customers.

Other Criminal Trespassing Consequences

Depending on the circumstances of your criminal trespassing conviction, you could also face complications over your child custody or parenting time, particularly if the court, protective services, or other parent of your child believes that your conviction reveals a condition or character endangering your child. You could also lose a firearms license or security clearance critical to your job, or an immigration status, leaving you facing deportation risks.

Defending Criminal Trespassing Charges

Just because you face a criminal trespass charge doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. The prosecutor must prove each element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Defenses to a criminal trespassing charge may include:

you had the property owner’s consent;
you had another property owner’s consent;
you were mistaken as to your access to the lands;
you needed to enter the lands for your own emergency safety;
you needed to enter the lands to save your property;
you had other authority of law to enter the property;
you were unaware of the property owner’s notice not to enter;
you did not enter, and the owner is mistaken or lying.

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