Possible Trespassing Case Study

A court will likely find that Burov had a reason to know that children trespassed on his property because there were signs of possible trespassing prior to Gaad’s injury. Like in Mayle, where the property manager found two signs of possible trespass after spotting a broken lock and remnants of two campfires near the property, Burov saw the same number of signs and the signs were only one month apart. Burov reported one sign of possible trespassing to the local police department. Moreover, in Mayle, where the property was a remote dam and it was hard to expect trespassers, the fact that the hot tub is in the woods and Burov’s property has no address will not preclude Burov from having a reason to know that children might trespass. Unlike in
Lisko, where there was no evidence of possible trespassing, Burov noticed that someone moved an outside metal table and placed it under an open window. The movement of the table might lead someone to expect that a young or short person used the table to enter into the open window. Finally, and like McDaniels, where the landowner noticed bike tracks and pedestrian pathways on his property, Burov noticed bike tire tracks, wet towels, and movement of the metal table on his property. The wet towels might have led Burov to believe that someone used the hot tub. Also, the bike tire tracks could have indicated that children played with their bikes on the patio and close to the hot tub. Therefore, Burov likely had a reason to believe that a child might have trespassed on the property.