2931. Trespass: Unlawfully Occupying Property

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 without the consent of the (owner[,]/ [or] owner's agent[,]/ [or] person in lawful possession of the property);

2. After the defendant entered, (he/she) occupied the (land/ [or] building) without the consent of the (owner[,]/ [or] owner's agent[,]/ [or] person in lawful possession of the property);

3. The defendant occupied some part of the (land/ [or] building) continuously until removed.

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.

Authority

Elements. Pen. Code, § 602(m).

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

Entry Must Be Without Consent. People v. Brown (1965) 236 Cal.App.2d Supp. 915, 920-921 [47 Cal.Rptr. 662]; People v. Poe (1965) 236 Cal.App.2d Supp. 928, 932 [47 Cal.Rptr. 670], disapproved on other grounds in In re Hayes (1969) 70 Cal.2d 604, 614, fn. 2 [75 Cal.Rptr. 790, 491 P.2d 430].

Occupy Defined. People v. Wilkinson (1967) 248 Cal.App.2d Supp. 906, 909-911 [56 Cal.Rptr. 261].

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

Agent Defined. Civ. Code, § 2295.

Secondary Sources

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

(New January 2006)