You may be daily breaking laws against trespassing without even knowing it. Don’t get too upset, however, because chances are you would know if you were committing the more dangerous offense of criminal trespass. We all recognize the potential for breaking trespassing laws when we see a No Trespassing sign warning us to keep off piece of property not our own and mull over whether or not to obey the directive. But what if you were to pick up a rock and toss it over the fence on which that sign was affixed and it bounced off the house built on the property? Did you just break the law?
Well, yes, actually. Believe it or not, but it is actually possible to trespass without ever physically setting touching the property in question. An errant football or a Frisbee caught by a sudden gust of wind can all become agents of trespass. You can even break the law by not only never touching it yourself, but never touching any object that touches the property.
One of the idiosyncrasies of trespassing is that the law applies when you obstruct the rightful owner’s ability to gain possession or even just enjoy the pleasures that come with ownership. For instance, if you get into an argument with your neighbor and use your car or some other large object to block the owner from entering his house, you have broken trespassing laws even if your car never even cross the plane marking the boundary of his property.
The enjoyment aspect of trespassing means that you have trespassed upon his rights to legally use his property as he sees fit. Dumping a bunch of leaves into his in-ground swimming from over the fence is an example of this violation. Placing a lock on the door to his storage shed is another. This portion of the law against trespassing applies even if you have been invited into the property. You can have actual video footage proving that you were invited onto a piece of property and still be cited for breaking laws of trespass. A neighbor who invites you over to check out his new storage shed is not inviting you to lock it against his access. Therefore, your proof of invitation does not excuse you from the trespass against interference of the owner’s right to enjoyment.
Perhaps the oddest thing about trespassing laws is that you can be cited for a situation in which you made physical contact with the property yourself nor even direct caused an object to take up residence. Let’s say there was a bad storm during the night and wind knocked a large tree limb over the fence so that it landed in your neighbor’s yard. Your refusal of his demand that you dispose of the offending limb would qualify for breaking trespassing laws after a certain period of time has passed without your acceding to his demands for removal.
As for criminal trespass and its much stiffer penalty, some sort of violence is required either in the act of illegally entry or once you have gained access.
