Around the country, people have been killed for seemingly innocent mistakes, like knocking on the wrong door or pulling into the wrong driveway.
6 News asked attorney Bryan Waldman about the laws on the books in Michigan that homeowners should know prior to taking action, if you have an uninvited guest.
Waldman said that there’s a basic misunderstanding about what a trespasser is.
“Michigan has a trespassing statute,” Waldman explained. “It defines a trespasser as someone who’s been asked not to come on another person’s land and then goes on that land or has been asked to leave that land or property and refuses to leave.”
So hypothetically, if an individual was driving down the road, and they decided that they want to turn around and pull in someone’s driveway to do so, are they a trespasser?
“They haven’t broken the law,” Waldman said. “They’re not a trespasser.”
You can watch the full legal breakdown in the video player above.
