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9.4-5 Affirmative Defenses to Criminal Trespass -- § 53a-110
Revised to December 1, 2007
The defendant has raised an affirmative defense to the charge of criminal trespass. The state has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of criminal trespass in the (first / second / third) degree. If you are satisfied that the state has proved these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you must still consider whether the defendant has proved (his/her) affirmative defense.
<Insert Affirmative Defense, Instruction 2.9-1.>
A. If claiming defense under §
53a-110 (a) (1)
The defendant claims that the building
involved in the offense was abandoned. The word "abandon," as used in the
statute, has a meaning in law that is not entirely the same as in everyday
speech. It is not enough to show as a defense that the building was vacant or
unoccupied or uncared for. To prove abandonment the defendant must convince
you, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the owner had totally withdrawn
from the building, had laid aside all care for it, and had left it altogether to
itself, voluntarily relinquishing possession of it with the intention of
terminating ownership, but without vesting it in any other person.1
B. If claiming defense under §
53a-110 (a) (2)
The defendant claims that the
premises, at the time of the (entry / remaining), were open to the public and
the defendant complied with all lawful conditions imposed on (access to /
remaining on) the premises.
C. If claiming defense under §
53a-110 (a) (3)
The defendant claims that (he/she)
reasonably believed that the owner of the premises, or a person empowered to
license a person to access the building, would have licensed (him/her) to (enter
/ remain), or that (he/she) was licensed to do so. A reasonable belief means
that a reasonable person in the defendant's situation, viewing the circumstances
from the defendant's point of view, would have shared that belief.
Conclusion
<Substitute for the concluding paragraph in the offense instruction.> If you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements of the crime of criminal trespass in the (first / second / third) degree, you shall then find the defendant not guilty and not consider (his/her) affirmative defense.
If you unanimously find that the state
has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the crime of
criminal trespass in the (first / second / third) degree, then you shall
consider the defendant's affirmative defense. If you unanimously find that the
defendant has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that <insert
affirmative defense>, then you shall find the defendant not guilty. If you
unanimously find that the defendant has not proved (his/her) affirmative defense
by a preponderance of the evidence, then you shall find the defendant guilty.
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1
Black's Law Dictionary (8th Ed. 2004).