Caught several trespassers on property

[ARCman47]

 

[BDR1]

Signs are not sufficient notice.

Let them get caught on the right person's property....I bet they'll understand what a no trespassing sign means....it might be the last time they trespass

 

[NewLeaf]

I went to check my game cameras on my hunting lease in Coweta County today and heard several four wheelers take off. The only issue was I was the only lease holder on the property at the time. I called another club member that lived down the street from the lease and we split up in an effort to locate them, its a large property. My partner found them and when ordered off the property, one got mouthy and aggressive. They were found checking out club stands and had five to six adults on four quads. My guess is they were about to commit a theft. To make matters worse, judging by the beers cans they left on the trails, they were all on their way to a good buzz.
Last season we had a theft on the property and located a four wheeler trail coming onto the property. We spread a couple rolls of razor wire and dropped a few trees in addition to posting no trespass signs on the trail they were using. We discovered today after running these people off, they had actually taken the time to saw through the trees and remove them and cut away all the razor wire to regain access to our land. Also noted was one of my cuddeback game cameras had been stolen that was in that general area over looking a rub line. I hate thieves. Worse than that, if I take the time to block your path with a bunch of fallen trees and wire and you have the nerve to remove it all while I'm at work, it shows intent to commit crime. We got a few photographs of them, but some took off when the camera phone came out. Coweta County Sheriffs office is already involved and we know they either came from Kelly Farm Rd or the Arbor Springs Subdivision and are trying to identify. I and 7 others pay $900 per year for this lease, and we take it seriously. If you know these people, please let me know so I can alert Coweta as to their names and address so we can move forward with prosecution. Mad doesn't describe the way i feel right now.

SCUMBAGS!!!! Know exactly how you feel. I got some night vision now and thangs about to get Fun

 

[emptyMAGS]

Prostitute them to the full extent of the law!

 

[gh1950]

Ok then walk past the guard line sign at the local state prison and then tell them the sign was not sufficient notice......you will be arrested on the spot if caught. The signage meets all state, local, and federal requirements. The dropped trees and razor wire act as a barrier to further emphasize the point. There is no way a reasonable and prudent person can say they thought their presence was lawful. Further they fled on encounter with a lease holder further indicating they knew they had messed up.

You can have an electrified 8 foot tall fence with a sign every 2 feet and it does not meet the notice requirement of the Georgia trespass law.

Crossing a guard line is treated in another statute and the charge is illegally crossing a guard line, not criminal trespass.

"Reasonable and prudent" is not the standard for the notice required by the Georgia trespass law.

"Knowing you have messed up" is not the standard for the notice required by the Georgia trespass law.

This issue had been thoroughly discussed in several threads and the conclusion is always the same. Actual notice to the trespasser to stay off the property is required to trigger the criminal trespass law.

 

[Ringleader]

The older guy actually hit two trees with his quad trying to escape. not sure if he was new to the machine or just that intoxicated. Most likely intoxicated. The younger guy in the brown jacket was the ring leader from what I was told and the one running his mouth.

Hey - not me!

 

[nduffey]

However Ga. also sates they must be given (1) FTF VERBAL warning already been there, the DNR says your property does not have to to be posted however, judges, and the trespassers attorneys will win that as they did not understand it was private property or not.

Then the judge will dismiss the case then, you can confront them outside the court and give them there notification, and have several witlessness there also...

Remember it is criminal law for the criminal, not law for the victim...

With respect, the law is posted below for your reading pleasure. If you will take note, no where in the statute does it require a verbal anything. DNR may very well have a standard operating procedure or standards of enforcement that may say a verbal is required, but if so its their policy, not the law. But I have spoken with serval members of Coweta law enforcement and they posting we have done is sufficient for the Coweta courts to prosecute.
O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21

GEORGIA CODE
Copyright 2016 by The State of Georgia
All rights reserved.
*** Current Through the 2016 Regular Session ***
TITLE 16. CRIMES AND OFFENSES
CHAPTER 7. DAMAGE TO AND INTRUSION UPON PROPERTY
ARTICLE 2. CRIMINAL TRESPASS AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY
PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21 (2016)
§ 16-7-21. Criminal trespass


(a) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she intentionally damages any property of another without consent of that other person and the damage thereto is $500.00 or less or knowingly and maliciously interferes with the possession or use of the property of another person without consent of that person.

(b) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she knowingly and without authority:

(1) Enters upon the land or premises of another person or into any part of any vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person for an unlawful purpose;

(2) Enters upon the land or premises of another person or into any part of any vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person after receiving, prior to such entry, notice from the owner, rightful occupant, or, upon proper identification, an authorized representative of the owner or rightful occupant that such entry is forbidden; or

(3) Remains upon the land or premises of another person or within the vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person after receiving notice from the owner, rightful occupant, or, upon proper identification, an authorized representative of the owner or rightful occupant to depart.

(c) For the purposes of subsection (b) of this Code section, permission to enter or invitation to enter given by a minor who is or is not present on or in the property of the minor's parent or guardian is not sufficient to allow lawful entry of another person upon the land, premises, vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft owned or rightfully occupied by such minor's parent or guardian if such parent or guardian has previously given notice that such entry is forbidden or notice to depart.

(d) A person who commits the offense of criminal trespass shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(e) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she intentionally defaces, mutilates, or defiles any grave marker, monument, or memorial to one or more deceased persons who served in the military service of this state, the United States of America or any of the states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or any of the states thereof, or a monument, plaque, marker, or memorial which is dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state, the United States of America or any of the states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or any of the states thereof if such grave marker, monument, memorial, plaque, or marker is privately owned or located on land which is privately owned.

HISTORY: Ga. L. 1882-83, p. 121, § 1; Penal Code 1895, § 220; Penal Code 1910, § 217; Code 1933, § 26-3002; Ga. L. 1959, p. 173, § 1; Ga. L. 1960, p. 142, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-1503, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 857, § 5; Ga. L. 1979, p. 764, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 484, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1491, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 526, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1153, § 1.

 

[YOTESHOOTER]

Very good information to bad you were not in front of the judge, in JASPER COUNTY. That's all there is to it. Even the DNR, agent was with me so he was unable to get the judge to budge...

Moving on...

 

[nduffey]

You can have an electrified 8 foot tall fence with a sign every 2 feet and it does not meet the notice requirement of the Georgia trespass law.

Crossing a guard line is treated in another statute and the charge is illegally crossing a guard line, not criminal trespass.

"Reasonable and prudent" is not the standard for the notice required by the Georgia trespass law.

"Knowing you have messed up" is not the standard for the notice required by the Georgia trespass law.

This issue had been thoroughly discussed in several threads and the conclusion is always the same. Actual notice to the trespasser to stay off the property is required to trigger the criminal trespass law.

That is not plausible nor vested in the law as written (OCGA 16-7-21). In order to enforce one's property rights you would have to be present each and every time a person enters and then warn them prior to entry. Thats the whole point of the sign, to be there when I can't. The law in certain circumstances does not even require notice. It uses the wording "without consent" and without authority" under certain subsections and uses "notice" in others. For example, if I enter your house without consent and without authority and steal your TV I have committed burglary under GA code (16-7-1). If I enter you house without consent and authority and just hang out on the sofa, I have committed criminal trespass. Based on what you have provided, I can't be prosecuted because you weren't there to warn me first that my entry into your home was not authorized?? The answer is no....I would be arrested in every jurisdiction in the state and prosecuted. You'd probably shoot me anyway and not worry with the prosecution but thats beside the point.
Yes the guard line is covered under another statute, I can provide that one as well. The point was there is not a guard there telling you that you can't come past it and the sign says without consent of the warden or his designee. There is a written sign and the courts have upheld that signage constitutes notice. Think about the weapons signs at the TSA check points, the no weapons signs at the schools. The written signage is sufficient under law to provide notice that an activity is illegal. IF not, why are any of us doing the speed limit or stop at stop signs....that sign isn't notice!
Further the fence at a prison acts as deterrence and provides for a secure environment, kind of like our razor wire and felled trees.
Lastly, the reasonable and prudent comes from the reasonableness doctrine as adopted by SCOTUS in which the courts reviews what a reasonable and prudent person would do as well as in certain cases a reasonable and prudent officer would do under the same circumstances. But, knowing each court system has their own standards of care in enforcing the law, I have already spoken with Coweta LE personnel. The signage and actions taken is sufficient for prosecution in Coweta. Each jurisdiction is different and there are special circumstances that may prevent prosecution under certain circumstances, such as a minor trespassing, a person of diminished mental capacity, or the area of entry not being posted regardless of other areas being posted. Without going into my history, job, or other credentials, I am very familiar with OCGA (official code of GA annotated). But thanks for your opinion and enough concern for us to voice it. I appreciate it, even though I disagree.

 

[HfdSARG]

They would be a lot easier to identify if you set up a dye pack booby trap. Them blue faces would definitely stick out. Soon as they cross them downed trees, splat.