Also known as: unlawful entries · illegal entry
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
The crime of entering another's real property by fraud or other illegal means without the owner's consent. This conduct constitutes trespass when the entry lacks permission or legal authority.
The crime of entering another's real property by fraud or other illegal means without the owner's consent. This conduct constitutes trespass when the entry lacks permission or legal authority.
Ulysses Ulrich sees Usha Upton attempting to climb through a broken window into his storage shed at night. Ulysses believes the shed and its tools are in his possession. He uses reasonable force to push her back and prevent the entry from succeeding.
Officers arrive at a nearly empty home filled with beer cans and drug paraphernalia. Uri Underwood and several others are inside behaving as if they own the place. The officers infer from the barren condition and the occupants' conduct that the gathering is unauthorized and arrest them for unlawful entry.
An alien's crossing of a border into a country without proper documents or inspection. Such entry violates federal immigration statutes and can trigger criminal penalties or removal proceedings.
Umar Underwood's parents crossed the border without inspection. A state statute bars their child from enrolling in public school solely because of that entry. The child sues, claiming the denial violates equal protection.
An alien's crossing of a border into a country without proper documents or inspection. Such entry violates federal immigration statutes and can trigger criminal penalties or removal proceedings.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Umar Usmani pries open a side door of a warehouse at night carrying a crowbar. He intends to steal electronics stored inside. The entry itself serves as a substantial step toward completing the planned theft.
Police first enter Ulysses Usher's apartment without a warrant and observe drug ledgers. They later obtain a valid warrant based solely on an informant's tip unrelated to the entry. The ledgers are seized under the warrant and admitted at trial.
Unlawful entry requires only the unauthorized crossing of a property line. Burglary additionally demands that the actor possess the intent to commit a crime inside at the moment of entry.
Yes. If police later obtain the same evidence through a genuinely independent source such as a warrant based on information unrelated to the illegal entry, the evidence remains admissible.
No. An unlawful entry taints evidence directly obtained from it, but a subsequent valid warrant or independent probable cause can support continued detention and the admission of separately acquired evidence.
Entering a structure, vehicle, or enclosure where the actor plans to commit the target crime satisfies the substantial-step requirement under attempt statutes modeled on the Model Penal Code.
Arizona enacts a statute making it a state crime for an alien to be present after an unlawful entry. Federal officers challenge the law as preempted by national immigration authority.
No. The Equal Protection Clause prohibits a state from denying undocumented children a free public education solely because their parents entered unlawfully. Cost savings alone do not justify the denial.
…entitled to special solicitude under the Equal Protection Clause because they lack "control" over or "responsibility" for their unlawful entry into this country. Ante , at 220, 223-224. Similarly, the Court appears to take the position that § 21.031 is presumptively "irrational" because it has the effect of imposing "penalties"…