2930. Trespass: To Interfere With Business

The defendant is charged [in Count ______] with trespassing.

To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must prove that:

1. The defendant willfully entered (land/ [or] a building) belonging to someone else;

2. When the defendant entered, (he/she) intended (to damage someone else's property [or property right]/ [or] to interfere with, obstruct, or damage a lawful business or occupation carried on by the (owner of the land[,]/ [or] owner's agent[,]/ [or] person in lawful possession of the land));

AND

3. The defendant actually did (damage someone else's property [or property right]/ [or] interfere with, obstruct, or damage a lawful business or occupation carried on by the (owner of the land[,]/ [or] owner's agent[,]/ [or] person in lawful possession of the land)).

Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on purpose.

[An agent is a person who is authorized to act for someone else in dealings with third parties.]

Bench Notes

Instructional Duty

The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the crime.

The statute uses the term "injure." (Pen. Code, § 602(k).) The committee has replaced the word "injure" with the word "damage" because the word "injure" generally refers to harm to a person rather than to property.

Authority

Elements. Pen. Code, § 602(k).

Willfully Defined. Pen. Code, § 7, subd. 1; People v. Lara (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 102, 107 [51 Cal.Rptr.2d 402].

Actual Damage Required. In re Wallace (1970) 3 Cal.3d 289, 295 [90 Cal.Rptr. 176, 475 P.2d 208]; In re Ball (1972) 23 Cal.App.3d 380, 386 [100 Cal.Rptr. 189].

"Land" Includes Building on the Land. People v. Brown (1965) 236 Cal.App.2d Supp. 915, 917-919 [47 Cal.Rptr. 662].

Agent Defined. Civ. Code, § 2295.

Secondary Sources

2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (3d ed. 2000) Crimes Against Property, §§ 247-248.

(New January 2006)