Aggravated trespass happens when, after threatening to injure a person, you willfully enter their home or workplace within 30 days of the threat, without their permission. This is a more serious crime than misdemeanor trespass, with serious consequences for those found guilty. It is a wobbler, meaning that the district attorney can charge you with a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor is punishable by 1 year in jail, while a felony is punishable by 3 years in prison. A conviction for aggravated trespass can also have serious immigration consequences and a negative impact on your gun rights.
However, you can influence the outcome of the case with our help at CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney if you face aggravated trespass charges in Los Angeles. Our attorneys can use their best defense strategies to have your charges dismissed or reduced.
The Legal Definition of Aggravated Trespass
Trespassing means entering and remaining in another person’s property without their consent or permission. It can cause a person to experience reasonable fear for their own or their loved ones’ safety. Generally, it is a misdemeanor under PC 602 in California. However, aggravated trespass under PC 601 is a far more serious offense, with severe penalties for anyone convicted.
Charges for aggravated trespass are filed when you threaten to harm a person physically. Then you willfully enter the person’s workplace or residence within 30 days of issuing the threat without the person’s consent. The legal definition of this offense is contained in its elements, which are the facts the DA must prove at trial. When facing aggravated trespass charges, the DA must prove all these elements beyond a reasonable doubt to prove that you are guilty of your charges. These elements are as follows:
- You issued a credible threat against a person, stating that you would cause them severe bodily injury.
- Your intention when issuing the credible threat was to put the person in credible fear for their own or their loved one’s safety.
- Within thirty days of making that threat, you illegally entered or threatened to enter their home or workplace without any lawful purpose.
- Your intention at the time was to execute the threat
- You knew or should have reasonably known that the residence or business was the alleged victim’s home or workplace
- You tried to find the person for no lawful purpose
Note: The district attorney does not need proof that you willfully entered the alleged victim’s home or workplace for the court to find you guilty of aggravated trespass.
Additionally, you cannot be accused of aggravated trespass if the residence, real estate, or workplace you entered after issuing a credible threat was your own.
To understand your charges even better, let us look at the meaning of these elements in greater detail:
Issuing a Credible Threat
Aggravated trespass happens after issuing a credible threat. This is a type of threat that causes a person to experience reasonable fear for their own safety or that of their loved ones. A credible threat appears as if the person issuing it can easily carry out. This makes it a believable threat.
You can issue a credible threat orally, electronically, through email or text message, or in writing. You can also imply it through a statement, a pattern of behavior, or both a statement and behavior.
In this case, the DA must prove that you issued a credible threat at least 30 days before trespassing into the alleged victim’s home, workplace, or property.
A Serious Bodily Injury
The DA must prove that you issued a credible threat against a person to cause the person a severe bodily injury. This means a severe impairment of the person’s physical condition. It can include an injury like a bone fracture, loss of consciousness, impairment or protracted loss of bodily function, a serious bodily disfigurement, or a wound that requires extensive suturing.
Reasonable Fear
The person receiving a credible threat must experience reasonable fear for their or their loved ones’ safety. Reasonable fear means the person believes they are in imminent danger of serious physical harm. The fear should be genuine and justifiable, meaning that any person in that particular situation would have experienced the same.
Sadly, it is challenging for a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged victim experienced reasonable fear for their safety. In this case, they use circumstantial evidence after examining the facts. For example, they can consider the following:
- The tone of your spoken messages
- Your behavior before and after issuing the threat
- If anyone else, other than the victim, was there when you issued the threat, and what their reaction was
- How the victim reacted to your threat
- Your relationship with the alleged victim
- Whether you have had previous encounters with the alleged victim, and the nature of these encounters
Fear for Loved Ones’ Safety
Aggravated trespass makes a person fear for their own or their loved ones’ or immediate family’s safety. A person’s loved ones or immediate family, under this law, means any of the following persons:
- Their child, spouse, or parent
- Grandparent, grandchild, sister, brother, and anyone else they have a blood or marriage relationship with
- A person with whom the alleged victim regularly or permanently lives in the same household
Remember that the DA must prove all these elements in court for a guilty verdict. If they cannot prove one element, the court can dismiss your charges. That is why you need a skilled attorney’s help with planning your defense. With the right defense strategies, you can successfully convince the court to dismiss or reduce your charges for a more favorable outcome.
The Punishment for an Aggravated Trespass Conviction
Aggravated trespass is more serious than misdemeanor trespass, meaning that you will likely receive hefty penalties upon conviction. Typically, this is a wobbler. The district attorney can charge you with a misdemeanor or a felony, according to your criminal record and the circumstances of the case.
A misdemeanor is the least serious of the two charges. A conviction for a misdemeanor can result in these penalties:
- A year in jail, or
- Misdemeanor probation
- A maximum of $2000 in court fines
A felony conviction is more serious, with more severe penalties, which may include the following:
- A maximum of three years in prison, or
- Felony probation
- $10,000 in a court fine
The DA will charge you with a felony if the following are true:
- If you have a prior record of issuing credible threats, even against a different victim
- There is enough evidence to show that you seriously intended to execute the threat you issued against the alleged victim.
Misdemeanor or Felony Probation
The judge can issue probation rather than jail or prison sentences after a conviction for aggravated trespass. The kind of probation you receive, and the length, will depend on the nature of your charges and the facts of the case.
Misdemeanor probation can last from one to three years. During this time, you will be under the supervision of the court. The court will set probation conditions that you must abide by throughout your probation. Among these conditions is a requirement to periodically check with the court for your progress reports. If you violate any of the set probation conditions, the court can revoke your probation and sentence you to the full required jail time.
Felony probation can last up to 5 years. They are more serious than felony probation. The court will place you under the supervision of the probation department, which will appoint an officer to take charge of the case. You must check in with your probation officer from time to time to determine your progress. The court will also set probation conditions, which you must abide by throughout the time you are on probation. In addition to meeting regularly with your probation officer, you will be required to stay out of legal trouble, to get treatment or rehabilitation for any underlying issue, or to commit a particular number of hours to community service.
Aggravated Trespass as an Aggravated Felony
An aggravated trespass can become an aggravated felony if you enter another person’s workplace or residence with a dangerous weapon after 30 days of issuing a credible threat, with the intention of executing the threat. The consequences of an aggravated felony in California are more severe.
For example, a conviction for an aggravated felony can have serious immigration consequences if you are an immigrant. This means you risk deportation or being found inadmissible to the United States. The immigration department can take immediate action to remove you from the country after serving your prison sentence.
A conviction for an aggravated felony can also result in the loss of certain civil rights. For example, you will get a firearm ban, which means that you will not be able to legally possess, carry, or purchase a firearm or ammunition for life. You could also lose your voting rights while serving a prison sentence.
A conviction for an aggravated felony also counts as a strike under the Three Strikes Law. It will affect sentencing for any other subsequent strike conviction you receive on your record. The punishment for the first strike remains unchanged under the law. However, a second strike is punished with double the penalties provided by law. The third strike results in a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Other Outcomes of a PC 601 Conviction
A conviction under PC 601 will result in a serious criminal history that could affect all areas of your life. This includes your professional and social lives. You could lose the support of your family and friends when you spend prolonged periods behind bars after sentencing. Even after that, people may still cast you out for having a criminal record. This can affect your previous relationships and make it difficult to create new ones.
A criminal conviction, especially for a felony, remains on your criminal record for years. Since criminal records are publicly accessible, anyone running a background check on you will find out about your conviction. This can be a potential employer, landlord, insurance provider, or lender. This may affect how easily you find employment, housing, insurance, or credit services after serving your sentence. Potential employers can reject your job application, regardless of your qualifications, based on what they find on your criminal background check.
If you are a professional license holder, you could lose your license after a criminal conviction for aggravated trespass. Your licensing agency may suspend or revoke your license, leaving you without a career and livelihood. It could be difficult to reinstate your license after serving your sentence due to a damaging criminal record.
The Benefits of Expunging Your Criminal Record
Fortunately, you can qualify for expungement after serving your sentence for aggravated trespass. Expungement is a legal process that removes some of the negative consequences of a criminal conviction. It allows you to answer ‘No’ when asked whether you have been sentenced for a crime before applying for jobs, except for government jobs. Expungement also makes it easier for you to enjoy better housing, insurance, and credit services after a criminal conviction. Although your conviction is not entirely removed from your record, it does not have a serious impact on your life.
However, expungement is only available to eligible individuals. You must consider your eligibility before filing a petition to expunge your conviction for aggravated trespass from your criminal record. The main qualification is that you must have completed the terms and conditions of your probation. This means you must have served your sentence in full. If you still have part of your probation to serve, you must apply for early termination of probation first. If the court grants early termination of probation, you can apply for expungement.
Another qualification is that you must not be serving another sentence for another crime. You must not be facing criminal charges or on probation for another offense when filing for expungement.
If you qualify for expungement, your skilled attorney can help you file a petition with the same court that heard your aggravated trespass case. The court will review your petition and decide whether to grant or deny it. They will hold a hearing to determine your qualification to expunge the conviction. If the court grants your petition, you do not have to disclose the conviction to potential employers in the future. However, you must always disclose your criminal record when seeking a government job.
How To Defend Yourself from Aggravated Trespass Charges
Before a court gives a guilty verdict, you will likely go through a criminal trial. This is the time when the prosecutor presents evidence against you to prove all the elements of the case beyond a reasonable doubt. You are also allowed to defend yourself during the trial, with the help of a competent criminal defense attorney. Your lawyer can bring in eye witnesses and present any compelling evidence that could counter the prosecutor’s case. They can also use various defense techniques to fight your charges. Here are examples of defense strategies that could work in your favor:
Arguing that You Did Not Issue a Credible Threat
Remember that aggravated trespass starts with a credible threat. This is a believable threat that puts a person in reasonable fear for their own or their family’s safety. The crime is accomplished when, after issuing the credible threat, you enter the alleged victim’s personal space, intending to accomplish the threat.
Aggravated trespass will not happen if you did not previously issue a credible threat. Your lawyer can argue and prove that you did not, in any way, threaten the victim. Remember that, since the prosecutor bears the burden of proof, they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you issued a credible threat. If you did not threaten the victim, the prosecutor will not meet this burden.
Additionally, you can counter the prosecutor’s case if the threat issued was not credible. It could be that you jokingly threatened the person and did not intend to carry it out. Your lawyer can argue that although you issued a threat, the threat was not believable and did not put the alleged victim in reasonable fear. They can support their argument by saying that a reasonable person would not have felt fear if the same threat had been directed at them.
If this strategy works in your favor, the court will dismiss the charges.
The Structure You Entered Was Your Own Residence or Place of Work
If you allegedly issue a credible threat against someone you live or work with, you cannot be charged with aggravated trespass for entering your own home or workplace. This law provides an exemption for people facing trespass charges for entering structures they own or have the right to enter.
However, you could still be guilty of issuing a criminal threat. The district attorney can still charge you for threatening the safety of another person. Issuing a criminal threat is also a wobbler offense, punishable by a maximum of three years in jail for a felony conviction.
You Did Not Intend To Execute The Threat
Aggravated trespass occurs when you enter a victim’s home or workplace after issuing a credible threat against them, with the intent to carry it out. Having a criminal intent is a critical element of this offense. This means that if this intent is lacking in your case, the court can dismiss your charges under PC 601.
Your skilled attorney can argue and prove that you had other reasons to enter the alleged victim’s home or workplace. If your intention was not to carry out your threat against the alleged victim, the court can dismiss your charges.
However, if you did indeed issue a credible threat against the alleged victim, the DA can file additional criminal charges against you. For example, they can charge you under PC 422 for issuing a criminal threat against another person.
You Are Falsely Accused
You can be falsely accused of aggravated trespass by someone who is jealous of you or someone who wants to take revenge against you. Without proper defense, you can be convicted and sentenced for a crime you did not commit. However, with proper defense by a skilled criminal attorney, you can fight a false accusation.
Your lawyer can find compelling evidence to show that you did not issue a credible threat and did not enter the alleged victim’s home or workplace to carry it out. They can use communication between you and the alleged victim to show that the accusations against you are false. They can also use your alibi or an eyewitness to verify that you did not commit the alleged crime. If this works, the court will drop your charges.
The Police Violated Your Rights
You can get a favorable outcome in your case if the police violated your rights during the arrest or crime investigation. This can happen if you were threatened, harassed, or forced to confess by the arresting officer. It can also happen if the police denied you the right to counsel. If your rights were violated, your lawyer can use that to convince the court to dismiss all evidence gathered against you. This could make it difficult for the prosecutor to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Find Exceptional Criminal Defense Services Near Me
If you or a loved one faces aggravated trespass charges in Los Angeles today, hire a skilled criminal defense attorney at the start of the criminal process. They will help you understand your charges, possible punishment, your rights, and the right defense to use for a favorable outcome. An attorney will also support you through all complex legal processes until you are happy with the outcome. At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we handle a wide range of property crime cases. We can ensure you understand the legal implications of your charges, your rights, and your defense options. We will also fight alongside you for the best possible outcome. Contact us at 323-922-3418 to discuss our services at length.
