In Re Antoine M.

907 A.2d 158, 394 Md. 491, 2006 Md. LEXIS 616
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedSeptember 14, 2006
Docket120, September Term, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 907 A.2d 158 (In Re Antoine M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Antoine M., 907 A.2d 158, 394 Md. 491, 2006 Md. LEXIS 616 (Md. 2006).

Opinions

ELDRIDGE, J.

This case presents the procedural issue of whether Maryland Rule 4-324(a) has any application to juvenile delinquency trials.1 The case also presents substantive issues concerning the requisite mens rea under the Maryland statute prohibiting “wanton trespass upon private land.”2

[494]*494I.

Antoine M., who was 16 years old, was charged, by a juvenile petition filed in the Circuit Court for Washington County, with trespass and malicious destruction of property. The juvenile charges were based upon an incident which occurred on August 26, 2002. On that date, Antoine M. allegedly trespassed upon property owned by Jillian and Jerry Keene in Hagerstown, Maryland, and used by the Keene [495]*495family as their residence. The alleged trespass occurred two months after Antoine M. was notified in a writing that he was not to come upon the property owned by the Keenes for any reason, and that, if he did so, charges would be filed against him. The notice was delivered to him by a police officer of the Hagerstown Police Department.

At the juvenile delinquency hearing on the charges, the State presented Mrs. Keene’s testimony regarding the trespass. Mrs. Keene testified that she wrote a no-trespassing letter in June 2002, informing Antoine M. that he was not welcome on the property owned by the Keenes and that, if he came upon the property, she intended to file charges. She stated that, after that letter was delivered to Antoine M., he continued to come upon the Keene property. Mrs. Keene testified that Antoine M. was never given permission to come upon the property by her or Mr. Keene and that they did everything in their power to discourage this behavior. Mrs. Keene testified that on August 26, 2002, the date of the alleged trespass, she had no knowledge of anyone in her home giving Antoine M. permission to be on the property. Mrs. Keene stated that, from the date that the no-trespassing letter was issued to Antoine M. until the date of the alleged trespass, Antoine M. was at the Keene home on numerous occasions. At one point in her testimony she indicated that Antoine M. was in the Keene home “everyday,” stating, “he’s always there.” She estimated that during the summer of 2002 he was on the property on approximately 15 to 20 occasions. Mrs. Keene further testified that she was unsure of a possible dating relationship between her daughter and Antoine M., but that, to the best of her knowledge, her daughter had not invited Antoine M. into the home on August 26, 2002.

At the close of the State’s case, the defendant made a motion for judgment of acquittal on both the trespassing charge and the destruction of property charge, stating:

“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I make a motion for judgment of acquittal based on the, the State’s failure to, uh, make a prima facie case at this time.
[496]*496[COURT]: All right, what’s ... as to the destruction of property, I think it’s granted.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Thank you, your Honor.
[COURT]: How about, I want to hear your argument on trespass, what ...
* * *
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: The State has failed to produce facts sufficient to carry its burden at this time.”

Thereafter, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion for acquittal on the trespassing charge.

During the defendant’s case, Antoine M. testified that he did not trespass upon the Keene’s property but was invited by the Keene’s 15 year-old daughter, whom he was dating at the time of the alleged trespass. Antoine M. testified that, from the time he received the no-trespassing letter in June 2002 until the date of the alleged trespass in August 2002, he had been on the Keene’s property on several occasions and that Mrs. Keene had invited him into the home on at least one of those occasions and had served him dinner. Antoine M. further testified that, when he would visit the Keene home, he would knock on the door and Mrs. Keene would either invite him into the home or ask him to wait on the porch while she went to get her daughter.

Following Antoine M.’s testimony, the defense rested its case. The State then called Mr. Keene as a rebuttal witness. Mr. Keene testified that he was aware of the letter written by his wife in June 2002 notifying Antoine M. that he was not welcome on the Keene property. Mr. Keene testified that, following the delivery of that letter, Antoine M. was never told that he could come upon the Keene’s property. Mr. Keene stated that his problem with Antoine M. was that he would not leave the property when asked and that on one occasion the Keenes threatened him with a shotgun in order to get him to leave. Mr. Keene further testified, however, that Antoine M. [497]*497was “made welcome” at the Keene home on several occasions after the issuance of the letter, but that he did not intend the “welcome” to mean that Antoine M. had permission to come upon the property. When asked by defense counsel, “[w]ere there times after June when Antoine was made welcome in your home?” Mr. Keene responded: “Yes sir, I’ll have to say there were.”

When asked by the court to clarify what he meant by “made welcome,” Mr. Keene explained:

“Well, we, he refuses to leave. He’s very obsessed, and I’ve taken him, offered to take him home many nights. And, uh, sometimes I have taken him home. And, some nights I would say, ‘Antoine, let me drive you home,’ and he would say, ‘No, I’ve got a place to stay,’ but, basically, he’d be staying around the periphery of the property all night, looking for an opportunity to come in.”
“Made welcome in the sense that he wasn’t abused. He was never made welcome in the sense, ‘Yeah, you have permission to be here,’ because we always wanted him to get it in his head that he needed to stay away, and we could never get that in his head. And, quite literally, it was do something bad to him, or know that he was gonna be there, and, you know, I, we threatened to use the shotgun on him. That’s, you know, we didn’t want to kill the young man. He’s still alive, so obviously we didn’t use the shotgun.”

At the close of all the evidence, the defendant did not renew his motion for judgment of acquittal on the trespassing charge. The trial court then concluded that Antoine M. did trespass upon the Keenes’ property and, therefore, was delinquent. The trial judge’s entire finding in this regard was as follows:

“I, I have no difficulty concluding, based upon the evidence, that the owners of the property, Mr. and Mrs. Keene, the property known as 39 Broadway, they, as lawful owners, provided a no-trespass notice. It was received in approxi[498]*498mately June 2002, and on August 26, 2002, Mr. M. was there, not as an invited guest, but simply because he showed up. Perhaps he was given permission by the daughter. I don’t think she has the authority when the legal owners have notified a person that their property, their private property is off limits, that ... cannot be countermanded by a teenage daughter. And, so he was notified, knew what the deal was, and decided to enter the property anyway. I do not find that after delivery of the letter that he was there as an invited guest, which would, essentially, knock out, or countermand the written letter in June of 2002.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
907 A.2d 158, 394 Md. 491, 2006 Md. LEXIS 616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-antoine-m-md-2006.