Commonwealth v. Capitolo

OPINION OF THE COURT

PAPADAKOS, Justice.

This case raises the sole issue of whether the defense of justification as defined in Section 503 of our Crimes Code 1 is available to Appellees (Patricia Ann Capitolo, Curtis Jay Sell, Stephen E. Anderson, Edward S. Wagner, and Sue Heilman) who were charged with criminal trespass. 2

On July 15, 1979, Appellees, violating a clearly visible “No Trespass” sign, crawled under a fence surrounding the Shippingsport Power Plant in Beaver County and sat down holding hands. Told to leave by a plant security guard and a deputy sheriff, or face arrest for…