CALCRIM No. 2931. Trespass: Unlawfully Occupying Property (Pen. Code, § 602(m))

Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2023 edition)

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2931.Trespass: Unlawfully Occupying Property (Pen. Code,
§ 602(m))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with trespassing [in
violation of Penal Code section 602(m)].
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.]
New January 2006
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(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, 451 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].
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• Agent Defined. Civ. Code, § 2295.
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Property, §§ 287-288.
VANDALISM, LOITERING, AND TRESPASS CALCRIM No. 2931
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