Also known as: trespassers · intruder · wrongful entrant
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who enters or remains upon land in the possession of another without a privilege to do so created by the possessor's consent or otherwise. The entry subjects the person to liability for trespass even when based on a reasonable but mistaken belief of law or fact. Liability extends to physical harm caused by the trespasser's acts or created conditions.
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Tobias Thomas walks across Talia Torres's field believing an old map shows a public right of way. The map is inaccurate and no such easement exists. Thomas's intentional crossing makes him a trespasser liable to Torres regardless of his reasonable mistake.
Tanya Tang discovers Thomas Thompson cutting across her remote cabin lot at night. Tang knows that ordering Thompson off the only trail would force him into a steep ravine where he faces serious injury. Tang may not use force to exclude Thompson because the exclusion would expose him to substantial danger of serious bodily harm.
Tiana Tan steps onto Tara Tran's fenced pasture to retrieve a lost drone. Tan has no permission and no other legal right to be there. Tan qualifies as a trespasser from the moment she crosses the fence line.
Twin Rivers Bank maintains an unmarked open pit on its vacant lot that it knows will cause death or serious harm to anyone who falls in. The bank has reason to believe trespassers will not discover the pit. The bank failed to warn of the condition and therefore faces liability to any trespasser injured by it.
Talon Security installs a spring-loaded net that harmlessly restrains deliberate intruders on Titan Industries' storage yard. The device is reasonably necessary and not likely to cause death or serious harm. Titan incurs no liability when the net captures a trespasser who deliberately entered the yard.
Torchlight Media places a spring gun inside a remote warehouse after repeated armed break-ins. The device is set to fire only when an intruder would justify the use of deadly force if the owner were present. Torchlight faces no liability when the gun injures an armed trespasser during an actual burglary attempt.
No. One who intentionally enters land in the possession of another is subject to liability as a trespasser even when acting under a mistaken belief of law or fact, however reasonable, that is not induced by the possessor.
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A possessor may not use force to prevent or terminate a trespass if the actor knows that exclusion will expose the trespasser to substantial danger of serious bodily harm. Nonlethal protective devices are permitted when reasonably necessary and not likely to cause death or serious harm.
…pathways along the railroad right of way — that is a longitudinal pathway as distinguished from a crossing — are to be deemed trespassers; and that the railroad is not liable for injuries to undiscovered trespassers resulting from its negligence, unless it be wanton or wilful. Tompkins denied that any such rule had been…
…acting—albeit unconstitutionally—in the name of the United States possesses a far greater capacity for harm than an individual
…of the owner, which the Constitution protects as well as the right of free speech, are not outweighed by the interests of the trespasser, even though he trespasses in behalf of religion or free speech. We cannot say that Jehovah’s Witnesses can claim the privilege of a license, which has never been granted, to hold their…
…property rights to the trespasser. See Wis. Stat. § 893.28. ¶ 25. In sum, the individual has a strong interest in excluding
…for example, of the interior of buildings severely damaged by fire. But its conclusion that such media personnel were not trespassers
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A possessor owes no duty to make the land safe or to warn of natural conditions. For an artificial condition the possessor created or maintains that is likely to cause death or serious bodily harm and that trespassers are not likely to discover, the possessor must exercise reasonable care to warn or faces liability.
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Yes, when the intrusion is such that the possessor would be privileged to inflict serious bodily harm or death if present. The device must be one the possessor would be justified in using directly against that particular intruder.
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A trespass on land subjects the trespasser to liability for physical harm to the possessor, the land, or things on it caused by any act, activity, or condition created by the trespasser, irrespective of whether the conduct would be actionable if the actor were not a trespasser.
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