TRESPASS

An intrusion onto someone else’s property, this charge can be the basis for more serious charges such as theft, assault, or aggravated trespass.

In Washington there are two degrees of criminal trespass, the most serious being a gross misdemeanor if a person knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building. Trespass in the second degree, a misdemeanor, involves a person knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully in and upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.

There are tried and true defenses to this charge that the State recognizes. If the building was abandoned, the premises were at the time open to the public and the actor complied with all conditions regarding accessing and remaining on the premises, the actor reasonably believed the owner or those with similar authorization would have allowed him access, or if the actor was serving legal process, the trespass charge can be dropped.

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