>You can't define some arbitrarily complex behavior that makes you into a trespasser. Maybe I'm wrong on that?
I've seen plenty of trespassing signs with statements mentioning specific times of day, like "after sunset" or "after midnight until 8am". I assume these are legally binding but I don't know for sure.
IANAL, but I think it comes down to the trespasser being informed in some way that the property is private and they're not welcome. If I'm kicked out of a store, for example, the owner or one of their agents has informed me that I'm no longer welcome on that property, so trespass happens if I try to come back. In the case of someone's property that has conspicuous no trespassing signs, the sign serves to inform me I'm not welcome.
At least that's what the cops told me one time when I was a kid and got busted exploring in the woods and missed the property owner's "POSTED" signs...
This is the commonly excepted folk advice people are given, however, most state laws (US) take no account of so called posted signs. There is a ‘mens rea’ requirement that for trespassing would typically require only that the trespasser knew they were on land that did not belong to them (this issue is easier to muddy if the trespassing occurs on ‘public’ lands/property).
But the statutory basis for trespassing is most often just the act of crossing into land without prior express permission.
But to be clear about my anecdote, I wasn't doing anything wrong and wasn't actually arrested. My family's property bordered the property I "trespassed" on, and the guy called the cops on me, a 10 year old, instead of just telling me to leave. The cop showed up and basically just scared me and said he didn't want to come back out there.
I've seen plenty of trespassing signs with statements mentioning specific times of day, like "after sunset" or "after midnight until 8am". I assume these are legally binding but I don't know for sure.