Opinion ID: 2607964
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the trespass ab initio instruction

Text: Appellant's requested instruction No. 5 provided: You are instructed that if the defendant had a right to enter into the land of the plaintiff, and that after the defendant entered onto the land of the plaintiff, they performed acts or caused damages over and above that agreed upon between the parties, then you shall consider the defendant to be trespasser [sic] `ab initio' or from the time they first entered onto the land of the plaintiff. Law of Torts Prosser, page 106. Appellant concedes that the doctrine, even if valid in our law today, [7] is generally applied only to those entering in a governmental capacity or to execute legal process. [8] There was no evidence offered below which would indicate that appellee had asserted that it was acting as a public authority, or by authority of law. Furthermore, it has recently been held that the doctrine does not apply to one who has abused a license. Cartan v. Cruz Construction Co., 89 N.J. Super. 414, 215 A.2d 356 (1965). It was not error to refuse the requested instruction.