Well, I went to court today in the seemingly neverending saga of the trespasser on my property. The judge called the case and spoke to the defendent, at which time his answer was, "There were no posted signs up" and the judge asked the D/A if he had spoken to me (I had called his office and left messages but never heard back from him). At that time I spoke up, walked up to the bench and told the judge that I had tried contacting the D/A's office, and I looked right at the defendent, and very matter of factly stated that there were signs up. I then handed a packet of photos to the D/A which include all the phots of this guy on the property as well as the signs. The case has been adjourned again, and i have to call the D/A tomorrow. I will say it was nice to see the look on the jerk's face when I took out that packet of photos.

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Vaya con Dios

Sound like you should be credited for handling this in a mature mannner.

Hope it works out for you and that it costs that jerk a lot of cash.

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" I don't recall, senator."

I've been wondering about this and think that there's 2 most likley outcomes.First,Hopefully today he gets the message.The second is gonna be the real saga.I hope for the first for you and suggest you prepare for the second.Best of luck,I think you deserve a break.

Merry Christmas,D.G.

Hi:
Be prepared for the "Good Old Boy" political system to "Kick In."
If you reside in a small rural county the Judge, DA, and Defendant could be relatives.
"Case Dismissed" Thank you cousin, I mean Judge.
I really hope Justice swings your way, but don't be surprised if the Defendant walks.
Jimmy

So, the guy is charged with the crime of trespassing?

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'Merica!

I had a friend who had a trespassing problem. Everyone treated his land as if it were public land. They came and went as they pleased and trashed the place while in the process. He picked out an ex-con who lived nearby who had done time for manslaughter and asked him to oversee the property. He explained how he wanted to conserve the property and said he would share game and fish with him but did not want to overfish or overhunt the land. Things got cleaned up and the game and fish that had been poached came back and he could leave his camper there now without it being vandalized. The guy would even go over and make the coffee whenever he knew he was coming. This may not work for everyone but it worked for him. I don't know how it is in other states, but in Mississippi I can write a ticket or make an arrest if someone is on your land without written permission.

Man this whole thing suck's! I certainly hope this ends well for you but things do get a bit weird. Hang in there!

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Stay safe people!

What I see happening is the DA and judge will look at the pictures and convince the trespasser to cop to a plea bargain. No jail time, a small fine, and a "don't do it again."

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Misty

I agree with misty SOOOOO what I suggest is set plenty of traps for those ridiculously oversized 'bears' we have discussed, bet you won't have anymore 'bears' coming around

You had him in court. Hopefully that will be enough for him to get the message. I guess some people are slow learners. The way I see it it doesn't matter much what the court does as long as he STOPS trespassing on your property.

So I see you've practiced law in misdemeanor court

Wise & Pithy indeed .

Although I can understand that the landowner, specially if it were me, would be seeking the death penalty or at the very least removal of an appendage. Which I guess it's wise to let a disinterested party mete out justice

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Forum consigliere

You're not alone! We were gone fishing. A dope dealing theif living acoros the street from us went into my back yard-rumaged thru stuff-then went to the front-got in my car-by now our neighbor called the cops. The officer caught the guy-and the guy even had a couple of our tools! He let the guy go, and even though we had previously filed documents directing that the guy not be allowed on our property-nothing was done.

its not their choice to just "let it go" is it? With previously recorded problems and they caught him red handed how is it not "chargable" let alone prosecutable?

Dave I hope they get hit him with at least a big enough fine to get him to stay away

Well, I got off just got off the phone with the D/A and aparently there are two ways I can go with this. One, we can take it to trial, he ends up with a small fine and no jail time because this is considered an offense and it won't even go on his record. Or, we can do an order of protection and if he violates that it goes right up to being a felony. Which means jail time. Apparently from what the D/A is telling me, this guy is digging his heels in, depsite the photos, the numerous complaints, and the two ENCON officers who walked the property with me back in Septamber who saw the No Trespassing signs. So, let him fight it.

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Vaya con Dios

Oooh - pick the order of protection!

Hit him where it hurts.
Also, once a felony is on his record...he's ruined for buying/possessing guns for life, and knocked out of many other jobs because many folks won't hire a felon.

The only problem is, likely this joker won't like this and likely the reason he trespasses is because he isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the batch. I'd be leery and watch my back very carefull since this has started. This feller sounds crazy.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

practice up with your carry gun and carry it with you everywhere. guy sounds like a head case and you may get a nasty surprise some evening. the bear traps idea sounds like a good one if you have any bears. if not, he could claim you were trying to trap him. we had something like that some years ago where a party was continually trespassing and entering an abandoned farmhouse. the owner of the property set a trap gun to fire when the door was opened. it worked real well,but he lost his farm in a court action for doing that very thing. the guy that got shot was a well known local worthless p.o.s. unfortunately he wound up with a nice farm over the deal.

The guy is a felon-but its his word against the neighbors-he says he was just checking to see if we needed help on our yard-or if our car needed detailing.
A few weeks later a cop stopped us and asked about a lawn mower that had been stolen from the drug dealers house! The guy had stolen it from his mother! This time he was caught and sent back to jail-he had been on parole. A while back we turned in a meth-lab van that the guy was airing out in his yard! The cops said they knew about it and warned us to not let the bad guys see us looking at them! It goes on and on. We just keep our firearms handy.
My wife is an invalid-being treated for cancer-yesterday she found a bag of dope by ouir mailbox thats on the edge of the criminals yard! So I make sure she's armed all the time. We also found about 50$ one morning! (one benefit I guess)-in the middle of he street.

I like the threat of a felony for violating the OFP. That might be the incentive he needs. Please be careful.

Facts of Life:
1) Protection orders don't protect. Don't misunderstand me, better to have one than not to have one. But, every day innocent people are killer or maimed by scum that have been legally restrained from having contact with the protected party. Jacking up the legal charge against an offender is little consolation after you have been maimed or killed.
2) Are convicted felons actually prohibited from using, owning or possessing firearms? No, not really. The legal prohibition is basically just a meek request, please don't use firearms anymore. Convicted felons routinely continue to possess and use firearms in post-felony conviction crimes. I guess, if a convicted felon shoots you with a firearm, it doesn't hurt.

This guy seems like a nut case. Hopefully, all will turn out OK. But, as a previous poster advised, watch your back.

Best of luck in getting this sorted out.

Get yourself some dogs for company. Agressive, trained dogs, not ankle biters. Turn them loose on this trespasser next time you run across him on your property. If he is this stupid, he will hurt you, it is only a matter of time. The dogs can smell and hear lots better than you can so depend on their early warning system. Consider body armor as well.

An order of protection essentially works as the fill-in for "I shot him because _____." It goes a long way toward proving that you had an immediate and reasonable fear of life and limb if you shoot him on your property. If he's got an order on him, he has NO business on your property. There's NO innocent explanation for him being there.

Yup, the OOP is your protection if this moron does something stupid. I'm a Parole Agent with clients on parole for this very crime.

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Always bet on stupidity.

What is preventing BOTH things from happening?

The order of protection should go into effect no matter the outcome of the trial....

I would fight for BOTH actions to be taken! I would demand both actually. The order of protection does not cost the state and it should be your right to have this criminal kept away to the highest level and prosecute him for the criminal activity he has done!

[QUOTE=perrazi;1224830 ......... the guy that got shot was a well known local worthless p.o.s. unfortunately he wound up with a nice farm over the deal.[/QUOTE]


XXXXXXXX

He would have never lived to get his first "light bill". I've got cousins with squirrel guns, fixins and other "possibles".


SC

Too bad that "head on pikes" is frowned upon these days. About the only thing lower than a tresspasser is a thief.

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Where's my dad's America?

David I was waiting to hear why they won't go to trial AND issue a restraining order?

Why does it have to be either or?

+1

Could this be the "good ol' boy" thing kicking into action?

I'm subscribed to this thread and looking forward to the next chapter.

Dave, I think what you meant to type was that a trespassing conviction was a misdemeanor. No reason why both processes can't proceed at the same time. The protection order should be a separate issue from the court case. If you can get both issues before the same judge, it should both expedite and assist the process.

David, Thanks for the awesome J.Wayne burning first of all. Secondly, sometimes even a peaceful person will be hounded to the point of "getting down on their level" to get the desired results. I'm very sorry for your situation and wish I were close enough to "assist" you in the protection of your property. I think you should hang out on your property (it is yours!!) and do some target shooting. You should stay out in the woods over-night to be up at first light to squirrel hunt. IF--IF a stranger comes to trespass and has a gun in possession, I would be so scared, I would probably start slinging rounds into trees and the dirt. I would pray that they wouldn't be close to anyone that might possibly get harmed or be intimidated by it. This is a "theoretical rant" of course. Seriously, You need to understand that his persistence has shown you invaluable information into his thinking. He feels he has a "right" to be there for what-ever reason. If the local law isn't helping you with this, then you may have to let him walk all over you and your family or you may have to "draw the line in the sand". He is very serious by his persistence. Even an idiot does not want trouble, then blatantly lie even after proof has been shown. Notify the local police in certified writing of the occurrences and charge them with stopping it. A monetary crime has not been committed and that is why they are reluctant to pursue him. If something terrible happens, handle it as you have to. If you have no alternative, sue the state for negligence. You are a tax-paying citizen, aren't you? The bottom line is someone has to be responsible for your safety. I'll pray it starts with the local police. If not, then you have to decide in a rational state of mind how far you will go in a given situation to "defend" yourself and/or your property. You may or may not agree with this, but I wish you the very best in this lousy situation. Prepare for the worst and pray it does not come to that. Sprefix

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Go big or stay home

Too bad you can't simply tie him to your fence when you catch him again, and flog him. Humiliation can go a LONG way to changing one's attitude. Plus, it sounds like you've got enough land that you could do it to where no one could hear him scream, if you know what I mean. At least it would be your word against his.