In most cases, trespass is a low-level misdemeanor offense that entails unauthorized entry or refusal to leave someone’s property with the intent to interfere with property rights or disrupt operations. Simple trespass does not attract severe legal penalties. However, the offense escalates to aggravated trespass when the unauthorized entry or remaining on property without approval encompasses the elements that significantly increase the threat of harm or violate the property’s sanctity. Aggravated trespass under PEN 601 is possibly a felony that attracts life-altering penalties.

When does criminal trespass become aggravated? Discussed are the elements and legal penalties of the offense and valid defenses you can mount to contest the charges.

Overview of California Criminal Trespass

PEN 602 is the foundation of criminal trespass. According to the statute, it is a crime to enter or remain on another party’s property without authorization and with the intent to interrupt business operations or deny the owner property rights. Examples of simple trespass include camping on someone else’s property or accessing a property with a “no trespassing” sign without authorization. Also, you could face the charges for simply hiding in a person’s garage.

A PEN 602 violation is a misdemeanor whose conviction attracts at most $1,000 in court fines and no more than six months of jail confinement.

Minor violations, such as entering an enclosed property signed “no trespassing,” can attract infraction charges. When convicted of the infraction for the first or second time, you will face $75 to $250 in monetary court fines. However, a third violation or trespass with criminal intent, such as disrupting business operations or damaging property, is a misdemeanor.

The elements of criminal trespass that the prosecutor should prove are:

  • You deliberately gained access or remained on someone else’s property
  • You did not have the right or authorization to enter the property

Acting deliberately means doing something intentionally or purposely. So, when you enter a property by accident, you are not guilty of a PEN 602 violation. You must or should have been aware that the property belonged to another party.

California Aggravated Trespass Definition

Per PEN 601, simple trespass becomes aggravated when you threaten to inflict serious bodily injury (SBI) on an individual and then you unlawfully enter their property or workplace within thirty days of the threats to act on the threats.

The law takes credible threats seriously, so you could face felony charges, whose conviction could lead to lengthy prison incarceration. The elements of aggravated trespass that the prosecutor must demonstrate for a guilty verdict are:

  • You made credible criminal threats to inflict SBI on an individual
  • You intended to make the threatened party reasonably fear for their safety or the safety of their loved ones
  • Within thirty days of the threats, you unlawfully entered the threatened individual's home with the intent to execute your threats or willfully entered their workplace and attempted to find them with no legitimate purpose and with a plan to carry out your initial threats.
  • When you acted, you knew the threatened party lived or worked there

To face PEN 601 violation charges, you must have acted willfully. Nevertheless, the prosecutor must not prove your conduct was deliberate to secure a guilty verdict.

Conversely, you are not guilty of the offense if the property or workplace you are accused of entering belongs to you. A conviction can only happen if the property belongs to another party.

Aggravated Trespass Elements

If you face aggravated trespass charges, you will have several questions regarding the crime’s elements. You want to understand the meaning of "credible or criminal threat," "reasonable fear," "SBI," and "immediate family." Here are the elements of crime discussed in detail to answer your questions:

Making a Credible or Criminal Threat

The difference between a simple and aggravated trespass is the issuance of a credible threat. Simple trespass becomes aggravated if there is a criminal or credible threat. Therefore, this brings the question, what is a criminal threat? Understanding the standard a threat must attain to become credible will give you a deeper insight into your charges.

A criminal or credible threat is one where the perpetrator appears to have the present capacity to execute it, and it is specific enough to cause the target to reasonably fear for their safety or that of their immediate family. The court will consider your communication in writing, oral, or electronic as credible if you plan to and possess the capacity to act on it. Having the means and capacity to execute means that the targeted party will take it seriously.

When proving this element, the prosecutor must show the specificity of the threat, meaning that the communication of the threat must be detailed and include specific information. A general anger expression, a conditional statement, or vague rhetoric does not attain the credible standard.

Also, a criminal threat can be implied by repetitive conduct or a combination of words and actions. For instance, if you have made multiple threats to a target, the court will consider them more credible than a single threatening statement.

Another factor the prosecutor should show exists in the case to satisfy this element is immediacy. The threat must be communicated in a way that suggests the target is in imminent danger of harm.

Lastly, context is crucial when proving the credibility of a threat. The judge will consider your threat credible if you and the target have a tainted relationship or history of aggression or violence. The goal is to show the court that when you, the accuser, communicated the threat, the victim understood it, making them concerned about their safety or that of their immediate family.

The manner of communicating the threat also affects its credibility. You can use symbols, gestures, or implications to communicate threats.

Threatening SBI or Great Bodily Harm

Another instance when simple trespass becomes aggravated is when you threaten Serious or significant bodily harm. An SBI is any injury that causes significant physical impairment, like fractured bones, concussion, serious wounds that need extensive stitching, severe disfigurement, and unconsciousness.

The prosecutor explains the context of these injuries to differentiate them from lesser bodily injuries that are short-term, do not require medical care, and do not pose a significant health risk.

The Target Reasonably Fears for its Safety

The prosecutor must show that the target experienced fear reasonable enough to cause an ordinary person in the same circumstances to fear for their safety. The judge will review the facts of the case and the context to conclude your motives and whether the target should have felt afraid.

The judge will evaluate the content of your explicit or verbal threats and the type of language used. Besides, they will examine your behavior during the threats to determine if they were sufficient to trigger reasonable fear.

The prosecutor will introduce other victims of the threats or eyewitnesses and cross-examine them to demonstrate the extent of the fear.

The context of the threats impacts the extent of fear the target experiences. If you have a history with the victim, the prosecutor can cite it and the situation leading to the arrest to demonstrate reasonable fear.

Additionally, the existing relationship between you and the target can determine how they perceive the threats. For instance, they can argue that the target interpreted your words with weight because of the existing strained relationship, and this caused them to experience reasonable fear about their safety.

The Victim Feared for the Safety of Their Immediate Family

The final element the prosecutor proves is that the threats caused them to fear for the safety of their immediate family reasonably. Family members that the law considers immediate are:

  • Siblings
  • Children, whether biological or adopted
  • Grandchildren
  • Birth parents or legal guardians
  • Spouses
  • Individuals who frequently reside in the target’s home

Aggravated Trespass Penalties

Simple trespass under PEN 602 is generally a misdemeanor. However, when aggravated, it is codified under PEN 601 as a wobbler offense, allowing the prosecutor to lodge felony or misdemeanor charges, contingent on the matter’s facts.

When the prosecutor secures a guilty verdict for a misdemeanor PEN 601 violation, the legal penalties you will face include:

  • Misdemeanor or informal probation
  • At most 12 months of jail confinement
  • Monetary court fines of no more than $2,000

Summary or informal probation lasts twelve to thirty-six months under direct court supervision. The probationary terms include:

  • Securing permanent employment
  • Not committing another violation while in the program
  • Payment of court fines and compensating victims

When the preferred charge is a felony and the prosecutor secures a guilty verdict, you will face the following felony penalties:

  • Formal probation
  • Monetary court fines of at most $10,000
  • At most 36 months of jail incarceration

Formal probation is distinct from informal probation, as it lasts for up to 60 months and requires the supervision of a probation officer. Besides, your PO prepares progress reports and presents them to the judge, who schedules a probation hearing when there is an alleged violation.

Other Repercussions of a Conviction

A guilty verdict will adversely affect your immigration status if you are a non-citizen. A conviction for a crime of moral turpitude or aggravated felony can result in the removal or inadmissibility of non-citizens. Felony aggravated trespass falls under this category, meaning that a guilty verdict could jeopardize your immigration status if you have a pending application and lead to deportation or inadmissibility once you leave the country.

Similarly, a felony sentence will hurt your gun rights. Nevertheless, you will retain your gun rights when the guilty verdict is for a misdemeanor.

Contesting Aggravated Trespass Charges

When simple trespass becomes aggravated, the penalties at stake become severe. Therefore, you must contest the charges aggressively for a favorable verdict, including charge reduction, lenient penalties, or case dismissal. You are entitled to defend yourself and have legal representation. Make the best use of this opportunity and hire a competent attorney early in the case to examine the facts, gather evidence, and craft solid legal defenses. The defenses your attorney can apply for a fair verdict are:

  1. The Threat Was Not Credible

The prosecutor's work is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the threats were credible. Your defense attorney should identify weaknesses in the DA’s assertions by pointing out their ambiguity, vagueness, or lack of context. The attorney can also argue that your communication or threat was not specific and that you lack the immediacy necessary to act on the threats, making them not credible. Besides, you can argue that the target misunderstood the communication or that the kind of relationship you had made it impossible for the victim to consider the threats as credible.

The goal is to make the jury or judge doubt the credibility of the alleged threats, leading to a charge reduction or dismissal.

  1. The Trespass Was Accidental

Sometimes, your presence in a victim’s property or workplace can be entirely accidental. You can argue that you did not know the person you threatened worked or lived in the place you visited. This means that you did not consciously trespass and you did not intend to cause reasonable fear or execute your threats.

  1. You Lacked the Immediate Capacity to Execute Your Threat

Your defense attorney can assert that the threats were triggered by frustration or anger in the heat of the moment. Also, you communicated jokingly with no plans to execute them. You can highlight that you did not make any preparations to proceed with the threat, lacked the means and ability to execute it, and therefore, you are innocent of a PEN 601 violation.

Again, you can claim that the threat was conditional, meaning your communication was not a commitment but a suggestion to the target to fulfill specific requirements. Expressing regret for your threatening statements through an apology can also show that you lacked the intent to cause the victim to fear for their safety reasonably.

  1. You Did Not Disrupt Business Operations or Property Rights

Trespass becomes aggravated when it interferes with the use or business running, to cause fear. Therefore, if you did not meddle with the property's operations, you are not guilty under PEN 601. However, you could be convicted for simple trespass, a lesser offense with fewer penalties.

Find a Reputable Criminal Defense Law Firm Near Me

You aggravate a simple trespass violation when the illegal entry is followed by a credible threat to cause SBI, and the entry happens within 30 days of threatening the target with the motive of acting on the threats. Showing violent intentions aggravates trespass to a possible felony, leading to severe penalties. An experienced criminal attorney can help convince the court you are innocent or that your offense is not aggravated for charge dismissal or reduction.

At the Law Office of Sara L. Caplan, we will explain the nature of your crime and possible penalties and mount valid defenses for a fair verdict. Call us at 310-550-5877 to arrange a no-obligation consultation in Los Angeles.