Criminal threats

• Author: Timothy E. Zerillo
• Pages: 203-220

CRIMINAL THREATS

6-1

CHAPTER 6

CRIMINAL THREATS

What happens if I say to you “If you don’t read my book, I’ll kick your butt.” This is, of course, a threat.

But is it a criminal threat? Is it a conditional or future threat? Are there other defenses if I’m charged?

These are all areas we will explore in this chapter.

I. ELEMENTS AND COMMON SCENARIO

§6:01 The Elements

§6:02 Misdemeanor or Felony?

§6:03 Conditional and Future Threats

§6:04 Criminal Threatening and the Domestic Violence Case

§6:05 Scenario: the Neighborhood Dispute

II. STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

A. Aff‌irmative Defenses

§6:10 Self-Defense in the Face of an Imminent Threat

§6:11 Gestures as an Imminent Threat

§6:12 Previous Threats May Help Establish Imminence

§6:13 State May Need to Disprove Self-Defense

§6:14 Defense of Premises

§6:15 Defense of Others

§6:16 First Amendment Issues

B. Negating the Elements

§6:30 Consider the Mens Rea

§6:31 Get the Accuser Talking on the Record

§6:32 But Beware of Accuser and Witness Tampering Accusations

§6:33 Suff‌iciency of Evidence That Threat Was Made

§6:34 Does Client’s History Explain Why He Pulled a Weapon

§6:35 Did Client Point Weapon at Victim?

III. TRIAL

A. Jury Selection

§6:40 Jurors to Keep

§6:41 Jurors to Avoid

B. Opening Statement

§6:50 My Approach

§6:51 Sample Opening Statement Excerpts

C. Cross-Examination

1. The Accuser

§6:60 Key Points

CRIMINAL THREATS

Defending Specif‌ic Crimes 6-2

§6:61 Accuser and Defendant Were Not Friends; Victim Was Trespassing

§6:62 Accuser Was the Aggressor

§6:63 The Threats

§6:64 Accuser Refused to Leave

§6:65 The Gun

2. The Responding Off‌icer

§6:70 Key Points

§6:71 Off‌icer’s Knowledge Limited to Participants’ Statements

§6:72 Off‌icer Did Not Witness Incident

§6:73 Off‌icer Does Not Know Whether Defendant Pointed Weapon at Accuser

D. Closing Argument

§6:80 Sample Closing Argument