trespassing 2nd degree

[tefcaptain]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? washington

me and 3 friends parked on top of a small incline that was close to the river we were going to walk to, we walked through a field that came to a dirt road that was next to an orchard, by the time we made it through the field and onto the dirt road a sheriff approached us in a cop car, he told us we were trespassing and said for us to wait until another cop car arrived, so another one shows up about 5 minutes later and the officers get out and interview or question each of us separately and the officers tell us that all of us are getting criminal trespassing 2nd degree, the officers said that the person that owns the land we were on wants to go after anyone who trespasses on his property and this month alone they gave out 51 tickets for the same thing in the same area.



we told the officers we didn't know we were trespassing because we didn't know, there wasn't any signs and it was an empty field.

i looked online and it says you have to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully in or upon premise

heres the law from the washington state legislature

RCW 9A.52.080
Criminal trespass in the second degree.


(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.

(2) Criminal trespass in the second degree is a misdemeanor.


so my question is what would be the best defense in fighting this? we can't afford attorneys and honestly i don't want this on my record, I've never had a misdemeanor or anything criminal before although one of my friends that was with me has




me and my friends are pretty young, i'm the oldest at 21 and my friends are 20, 17 and 16, we were just going to swim at the river but apparently sheriffs monitor that area just to give out tickets.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

we told the officers we didn't know we were trespassing because we didn't know, there wasn't any signs and it was an empty field.

i looked online and it says you have to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully in or upon premise

You knowingly crossed the field. "Not knowingly" refers to someone who unintentionally entered the premise.

 

[xylene]

RCW 9A.52.010
Definitions.

(3) "Enters or remains unlawfully". A person "enters or remains unlawfully" in or upon premises when he is not then licensed, invited, or otherwise privileged to so enter or remain.

A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is only partly open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of a building which is not open to the public. A person who enters or remains upon unimproved and apparently unused land, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders, does so with license and privilege unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to him by the owner of the land or some other authorized person, or unless notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner.

Land that is used for commercial aquaculture or for growing an agricultural crop or crops, other than timber, is not unimproved and apparently unused land if a crop or any other sign of cultivation is clearly visible or if notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. Similarly, a field fenced in any manner is not unimproved and apparently unused land. A license or privilege to enter or remain on improved and apparently used land that is open to the public at particular times, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner to exclude intruders, is not a license or privilege to enter or remain on the land at other times if notice of prohibited times of entry is posted in a conspicuous manner;

If there was no conspicuous posting against trespassing, based on your facts, you did not commit trespass 2nd.

NOTE - that does not mean you are not guilt if you did not see it. It means that if the property was posted as required...

 

[Mass_Shyster]

If there was no conspicuous posting against trespassing, based on your facts, you did not commit trespass 2nd.

NOTE - that does not mean you are not guilt if you did not see it. It means that if the property was posted as required...

OK, I retract the part about 'knowingly' entering. Your information is much better.

but**************

OP once called it an orchard, and another time a field. If it was, in fact, an orchard, it could fall under "clearly visible signs of cultivation".

 

[tefcaptain]

OK, I retract the part about 'knowingly' entering. Your information is much better.

but**************

OP once called it an orchard, and another time a field. If it was, in fact, an orchard, it could fall under "clearly visible signs of cultivation".

well we walked through a field and to a dirt road that was next to an orchard like a few feet away, when we made it to the dirt road is when the sheriff arrived, we told the officers we didn't see any trespassing signs and later when we were going back we made sure to look for them and there wasn't any, the sheriff that was first to talk to us said it didn't matter if the property had signs or not, he said it's like walking in someones yard next to a house and it didn't have to have signs to be trespassing

 

[tefcaptain]

update

Just to let people know what happened, 2 of my friends who went to court first got deferrals, the 16 and 17 year olds and me and my older friend went to the court and got are cases dismissed because the officers gave us tickets for trespassing in the field and NOT in the orchard, the prosecutor called the cops to see if they would change the lot number where we got the tickets but they didn't so it wasn't considered trespassing.

 

[CdwJava]

Interesting ... sounds like a lucky break on everyone's part.

Hopefully everyone has learned from the event and will exercise a wee bit more caution when wandering onto property not their own.

Thanks for posting back on the results.

 

[1000Sparks]

I don't understand

You know it's not your property so someone must own it.
And why should it be posted? If that's necessary people
ought to post their land their house is on.

I find you on my property I'll set up my barbecue on your
front lawn. Fair enough.