Criminal Trespass and Domestic Violence in Seattle
Defense and Family Law Attorneys in Seattle
In Washington, it is criminal trespassing to come onto someone else’s property and stay there if you’re aware your presence is illegal. Where the perpetrator and the property owner or occupier are family members or share an intimate relationship, the crime may be charged as domestic violence. There are two degrees of criminal trespassing. If you are charged with criminal trespass and domestic violence, the experienced Seattle domestic violence lawyers of Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC can advise you regarding your rights.
Criminal Trespass and Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is charged when certain crimes are committed and the perpetrator and victim are family or household members. Family or household members include spouses, exes, those who are presently cohabiting or previously have, blood relatives, relatives by marriage, those with a dating relationship, those at least 16-years-old or older having a dating relationship with another who is at least 16-years-old, and biological or legal parents and children. Domestic violence can include criminal trespass when it is perpetrated by one family or household member against another.
Criminal trespass may be in the first degree under Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 9A.52.070. You can be found guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree if you knowingly enter or stay unlawfully in a building. Criminal trespass in the first degree is charged as a gross misdemeanor.
Criminal trespass can also be charged in the second degree under RCW 9A.52.080. You can be found guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if you knowingly enter or stay on someone else’s property under circumstances that aren’t considered criminal trespass in the first degree. For example, if you go onto some other type of property belonging to someone with whom you have a household or family relationship — and that property is not a building, such as a car or structure or land—you could be charged with second degree criminal trespassing.
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