Whoever threatens to commit a crime of violence with the intent to terrorize another person may be convicted of a felony. The state is required to prove that a person had the specific intent to terrorize another person. For example, if a person says, "I am going to poison you to death" this sounds like a threat to commit homicide. On closer examination, this may not be the case. The person who made the statement may have been frustrated or angry with no actual intent to kill. The context for the statement must be explored by a terroristic threat defense attorney to determine actual intent. What are the defenses? Voluntary intoxication is a defense since alcohol deprives you of the intent or purpose to commit the crime. Also, the context in which the statement was made may indicate lack of specific intent.
A person also commits terroristic threats when a threat is made to commit an act of violence in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror in another person. The statute does not require that the person who made the statement actually intend to commit an act of violence. The focus here is on whether or not the context of the communication would reasonably cause apprehension in the alleged victim that the person who made the threat will act upon it. A person who makes a terroristic threat and recklessly disregards the risk of terrorizing another may be convicted of a felony. Voluntary intoxication will not provide a defense to this tyope of terroristic threat charge since the specific intent of the accused is not an element of the crime.
If you, or someone you know has been charged with terroristic threats, call terroristic threat defense attorney Robert J. Shane now at (612) 339-1024. Mr. Shane has 30 years of criminal defense experience and maintains a winning record.