Indiana Criminal Trespass

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Indiana

I was recently arrested for criminal trespassing in Indiana. Something seemed fishy about the charge, so I looked up the law and I do not believe I have broken it. Here is the portion of the law that I believe applies to my case;

(1) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or intentionally enters the real property of another person after having been denied entry by the other person or that person's agent;
(2) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or intentionally refuses to leave the real property of another person after having been asked to leave by the other person or that person's agent;
(4) knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or use of the property of another person without the person's consent;

I and two friends were parked in a small place just off the road in the countryside. I was sitting in the back with my door open. My two friends began smoking marijuana of which I did not partake. Just as we were about to leave a police officer drove in behind us, arrested us all at gunpoint, charged the driver with DWI, possession, and criminal trespass, charged my other friend with possession and trespass, and me with criminal trespass.

After we were arrested I was told I was being charged with criminal trespass , being naive and a first time offender I assumed I had actually broken the law.

I am a dean's list college student and have never had problems with the law before. I am hoping I can get an opinion on if I have broken Indiana criminal trespass law or not. There were no "no trespassing" signs around the area we were in, I had also never been denied entry or asked to leave nor did I even know whose property it was (there was a lot of trash around so I assumed it was something of a dump).

Thank you for your time.

What subsection are you charged under, 1, 2, 3 or 4?


IC 35-43-2-2
Criminal trespass
Sec. 2. (a) A person who:
(1) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or intentionally enters the real property of another person after having been denied entry by the other person or that person's agent;
(2) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or intentionally refuses to leave the real property of another person after having been asked to leave by the other person or that person's agent;
(3) accompanies another person in a vehicle, with knowledge that the other person knowingly or intentionally is exerting unauthorized control over the vehicle;
(4) knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or use of the property of another person without the person's consent;

I was not told or given any paperwork that says which. When I was let out of jail after 48 hours I went to collect my property out of a sack which had a piece of paper on the front that said I was in for misdemeanor criminal trespassing. After I collected my property the officer took this piece of paper.

I do not know which specific charge I was arrested under, but after reading the law it seems I did not break any part of it.

Was it considered public property or private?

Probably private.

Quote:

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Quoting JamesC

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Probably private.

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4 would seem to apply here:


(4) knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or use of the property of another person without the person's consent;

There are 2 types of permission, express and implied.

You had no express invitation/permission.

Implied permission to sit on private property can not be such when drugs are being used, it is not an emergency car breakdown, etc.

Interefering in the use or property has many elements to charge under.

So it would seem unlikely that I broke the law if I was charged under subsection 1 or 2, but if it is 4 then they probably have a case?

I have been trying to look up similar Indiana court cases to no avail. In all of the cases I have found the person being charged with Criminal Trespass had been on someones property when asked to leave or entered after being told not to, even when they had been drunk or high etc. I could not find any where the defendant had "interfered with the use or possession" of someones property.

Anyway, thank you for your time.

Quote:

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Quoting JamesC

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So it would seem unlikely that I broke the law if I was charged under subsection 1 or 2, but if it is 4 then they probably have a case?

I have been trying to look up similar Indiana court cases to no avail. In all of the cases I have found the person being charged with Criminal Trespass had been on someones property when asked to leave or entered after being told not to, even when they had been drunk or high etc. I could not find any where the defendant had "interfered with the use or possession" of someones property.

Anyway, thank you for your time.

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1 or 2, no, 4 yes.

Pay a visit to a library where they have the IN code, it does not have to be a law library, look up this trespass law and it will cite case law annotations after it. See what, if any, are for subsection 4.

p.s. you are welcome.

I found a grand total of 2 cases were the defendant was prosecuted for "interfering with the use or possession of property" and each involved the property owner pressing charges because of interference. I got some free advice from a lawyer who told me that since the property was not clearly marked and so close to a public road I may be acquitted because of that simple fact.


I suppose my defense will be that there were no "no trespassing" signs to indicate it was private property, that I had never been denied entry or asked to leave, and I will also ask for the proof that I interfered with the use of or possession of the property.

The only problem is how open the fourth subsection seems to be to interpretation. I suppose I could have possibly "interfered" with the use of the land by just sitting in a car on it. It seems to be a weak case though.

Think I have a chance?