Section 11-735

Citation: Section 11-735
Parent Document: Mendes v. Johnson, 389 A.2d 781 (1978)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1978-06-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2073911/mendes-v-johnson/ ↗

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*784 These "forcible entry and detainer" statutes, both civil and criminal, have been variously interpreted. In England, the Statute of Richard II was held not to provide any basis for a civil action for trespass to the land, since a tenant, having no rightful claim to the land, could not be injured by its deprivation; the landlord would be liable for criminal prosecution, but the tenant had no claim for damages. However, in Newton v. Harland, 1 Man. & G. 644, 133 Eng.Rep. 490 (1840), it was held that an action for assault and battery would lie when force was used upon the person of the occupant in the course of the eviction. Thus a distinction was developed between forcible entry, which was a criminal offense but not a civil wrong against one wrongfully in possession, and forcible eviction, which was actionable civilly as an invasion of the occupant's interests in bodily security and exclusive custody and control of his chattels.[6] Before being overturned in England in 1920 (Hemmings v. Stoke Poges Golf Club, 1 K.B. 720 (1920)), this view gained a wide following among the states. The current English view is that the privilege extends to the use of reasonable force both to reenter the premises and evict the occupant and his possessions.[7]

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