State v. Scott

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

ZAZZALI, J.

The issue presented in this appeal is whether an unoccupied apartment that is available for rent retains the status of a “dwelling” for purposes of the criminal trespass statute. Defendant Lamont E. Scott was arrested after breaking into a vacant apartment. In an unreported opinion, the Appellate Division reversed defendant’s fourth-degree criminal trespass conviction and directed entry of a judgment convicting him of the lesser-included disorderly persons offense of criminal trespass. The court held that the vacant apartment did not…