Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Arested for criminal Trespass

My wife & I were arrested for trespassing when I was getting my tools from the house where my friend lived who also worked for me. He would clean up the job site after we finished and would take the tools to his house till we started another job. I had verbal permission to enter his back yard where he would leave tools on back patio. I hadn't talked to him in over a week and couldn't get in touch with him and needed tools so I went to get them. He also was working on my wifes car and she went with me to see about that. after I got my tools the property owner came running up to us yealling ''You broke into my house Call the police.'' The landlord's daughter called the police and my wife & I knowing we did nothing wrong waited till they arrived to explain what we were doing. He told the police we were in the house which we were not and that we kicked the back door in which we did not. The back door was indeed kicked in but not by us. The landlord said my friend did not live ther anymore and we were burglarizing the place. There were no evection notice posted nor no trespassing signs posted. All his belongings were still in the house & mail in the mailbox.We believed he still lived there, were charged/w tresspass.Can the DA convict us


Asked on 2/20/07, 3:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Miller Robert L. Miller & Associates, A Law Corporation

Re: Arested for criminal Trespass

Thank you for your question, and for the opportunity to both help and advise you further.

To convict someone of trespass, the prosecutors have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the elements of Penal Code section 602, which states:

"...every person who willfully commits a trespass by any of the following acts is guilty of a misdemeanor: ... (l) Entering any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, or entering upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands without the written permission of the owner of the land, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful possession, and

(1) Refusing or failing to leave the lands immediately upon being requested by the owner of the land, the owner's agent or by the person in lawful possession to leave the land..."

Whether or not the DA can convict you depends on if they can prove that what you did was "wilful", and that's not clear just from what is written in your question.

I hope this helps, but if you have additional information, have other questions, or would like legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. It's my pleasure to help you in any way that I can, and thanks again.

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Answered on 2/23/07, 4:14 pm


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