Trespassing
Mercer County Criminal Trespass Lawyers
If you have been charged or arrested for trespassing it is important that you retain an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Trespassing is considered a serious offense in New Jersey and defendants can expect for the state to prosecute them to the fullest extent under the law. Our defense lawyers appear throughout Mercer County and surrounding areas including Lawrenceville, Hamilton, East Windsor, Ewing, Robbinsville, Hopewell, West Windsor, Trenton and Hightstown. The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall is comprised of criminal defense lawyers and former prosecutors who possess well over 100 years of combined experience. We will review the details and facts surrounding your case in order to develop a viable defense and work with the state in an effort to have the charges reduced or dismissed altogether. If you would like more information regarding your charge please feel free to contact our Princeton office at (609) 683-8102 for a free consultation.
New Jersey Trespassing Law 2C:18-3
A broad range of conduct and actions fall within the New Jersey statute for trespass under N.J.S.A. 2C:18-3. The NJ Trespassing Law is, in pertinent part, as follows:
a. Unlicensed entry of structures. A person commits an offense if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or surreptitiously remains in any research facility, structure, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof. An offense under this subsection is a crime of the fourth degree if it is committed in a school or school property…dwelling…[or] research facility. Otherwise it is a disorderly persons offense.
b. Defiant trespasser. A person commits a petty disorderly persons offense if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place as to which notice against trespass is given by:
- Actual communication to the actor; or
- Posting in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders; or
- Fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders.
c. Peering into windows or other openings of dwelling places. A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he peers into a window or other opening of a dwelling or other structure adapted for overnight accommodation for the purpose of invading the privacy of another person and under circumstances in which a reasonable person in the dwelling or other structure would not expect to be observed.
Charged with Trespassing in Hamilton NJ
The most frequent form of criminal trespass cases are disorderly persons offenses but we commonly represent clients charged with felony trespassing, which is an escalated charge based on the circumstances of the act. For instance if you are arrested for trespassing in another person’s home, school property, or a public utilities facility then you would be charged with a fourth degree crime. The New Jersey trespass law also covers the acts normally referred to as “peeping toms”, a fourth degree crime, for defendants charged with peering through windows of houses or other over night dwellings. The least serious form of trespassing is called Defiant Trespass, a petty disorderly persons offense, and it is charged when someone enters or remains on a property after they have received notice not to trespass, verbally, by a sign, or by fencing around the property. We commonly see this when a defendant is goes on a neighbors property after to being told to stay off previously or when someone has been banned from a store and they return.
Trespass Lawyers With Offices in Hamilton, Lawrence Township & Princeton
Every trespassing charge is a criminal offense and each carries the potential for incarceration, probation, community service, and a permanent record. By hiring an experienced attorney to help you with your trespassing case you can minimize these consequences or even avoid them altogether if the charge is dismissed. We will raise any viable affirmative defenses such that the building was open to public, abandoned, or that you had permission to enter. The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall have an office conveniently located in Princeton and are experienced in handling these types of charges. Contact us at (609) 683-8102 to speak with a knowledgeable trespass defense lawyer free of charge.