“Trespassing Neighbor. Our client and her family have occupied the family home that her father built for her with his own hands decades ago. A dispute with her neighbor caused the neighbor to willfully trespass on the client’s private property several times each day for years. After asking the neighbor to stay off of the family property, engaging attorneys to warn her to stop trespassing and then unsuccessfully complaining to the police, the family turned to us for relief. With no other lawful options available, her neighbor intentionally trespassing on her land several times each day, every day, and the quality of our client’s life significantly diminished by the neighbor’s repeated disregard of the law, we applied for and were granted a private criminal complaint charging the trespassing neighbor with multiple counts of willful trespass. Unable to resolve the case by agreement, the accused neighbor demanded a trial. On the day of trial, the trespassing neighbor admitted her guilt. A private criminal complaint permits a private citizen to stand in the shoes of the state and prosecute misdemeanor crimes after a showing that probable cause to believe a crime has been or is being committed and that the accused perpetrated that crime. In this case, that rarely relied upon mechanism of the criminal justice system served our client who, after years of abuse by her neighbor, finally received the relief that she deserved.”
