Ala. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) 13A-7-4

Criminal Trespass Third

Degree

The defendant is charged with criminal trespass in the third degree.

A person commits the crime of criminal trespass in the third degree if he/she

knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises.

To convict, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the

following elements:

(1) The defendant entered or remained unlawfully in or upon premises,

the property of [insert name]; (AND)

(2) The defendant did so knowingly.

A person Enters or Remains Unlawfully in or upon premises when he/she is not

licensed, invited or privileged to do so. A person who, regardless of his/her intent,

enters or remains in or upon premises which are at the time open to the public does

so with license and privilege unless he/she defies a lawful order not to enter or

remain, personally communicated to him/her by the owner of such premises or other

authorized person. A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is partly

open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of the

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

privileges unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to him/her by

the owner of such land or other authorized person, or unless such notice is given by

posting in a conspicuous manner. [13A-7-1(3)]

Premises includes any building and any real property. [13A-7-1(5)]

A Building is any structure which may be entered and utilized by persons for

business, public use, lodging or the storage of goods, and such term includes any

vehicle, aircraft or watercraft used for the lodging of persons or carrying on business

therein, and such term includes any railroad box car or other rail equipment or trailer

or tractor trailer or combination thereof. Where a building consists of two or more units

separately occupied or secure, each shall be deemed both a separate building and a

part of the main building. [13A-7-1(1)]

Posting in a Conspicuous Manner is a sign or signs posted on the property,

reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is

forbidden or the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts on the

property, provided that the marks satisfy all of the following:

a. Are vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than

one inch in width;

b. Are placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet from

the ground or more than five feet from the ground; (AND)

c. Are placed at locations that are readily visible to any person approaching

the property and are no more than 100 feet apart on forest land or 1,000 feet

apart on land other than forest land. [13A-7-1(4)]

An intruder acts Knowingly if he/she is aware of the fact that he/she has no

license or privilege to enter or remain. [13A-2-2(2)]

If you find from the evidence that the State has proved beyond a reasonable

doubt each of the above elements of criminal trespass in the third degree, then you

shall find the defendant guilty of criminal trespass in the third degree.

If you find that the State has failed to prove any one or more of the elements of

criminal trespass in the third degree, then you cannot find the defendant guilty of

criminal trespass in the third degree.

[If lesser-included offenses are included, the Court should instruct on those offenses at

this point.]

[Approved 08-13-24]