Overstaying Your Welcome Could Become Criminal Trespass

 Posted on February 09, 2016 in Criminal Defense

Sometimes party guests find themselves facing criminal trespass charges when things get out of hand at the party. Maybe a guest becomes intoxicated and becomes belligerent, upsetting other guests, or even the host or hostess. The police are likely to be called.

Once aguest is asked to leave, if he or she remains on the property, he or she could be charged with criminal trespass. While the guest was initially invited to the property, as a guest, if he or sheis later asked to leave and refuses to do so, it can constitute criminal trespass according to 720 ILCS 5/21-3.

Permission/Consent to be on the Property

The crime of trespassing largely revolves around whether the person who is committing the trespass has permission to be on the property in question. In the case of a guest who has outstayed his or her welcome, the guest may have started the party with the property owner’s (i.e., host or hostess) permission to be on the property, but that authorization was revoked during the guest’s stay on the property.

Having the owner’s consent to be on the property can be a defense to criminal trespass charges. Consent can be either expressly given, meaning the owner made it clear verbally or in writing that someone else may be on the property.

• Verbal express consent could include the following phrase: “Hey I am having a party at my house. You are invited to join!”
• Written express consent could include a letter or email asking, “Could you come over to my house and check the heating unit? I think it’s broken.”

All of these examples expressly consent to the recipient to gain access to the property of the owner.

Houseguests vs. Tenants or Co-Owner of the Property

Sometimes a domestic dispute gets out of hand and one partner in the relationship calls the police to report a criminal trespass against the other partner. However, if a person is a tenant or co-owner of the property, he or she may not technically be trespassing on the property. For instance, if a boyfriend and girlfriend are having a fight, and the girlfriend calls the police to report that the boyfriend is trespassing, without some other reason to remove the boyfriend (i.e., accusations of assault and battery, existing protection order, etc.), the boyfriend cannot be removed from the property if he is a tenant or co-owner of the property.

Contact Us for Assistance

Guests get booted from parties that they were invited to all the time, and sometimes the authorities are called and charges are pressed against a guest who is reluctant to leave when asked. If you are facing criminal trespass to real property charges, please do not hesitate to contact a Rolling Meadows criminal defense attorney at our office. We are available to assist you today.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K21-3