Making threats to someone, even through social media, is against the law in California.
According to California Penal Code 422, making electronic, verbal or written threats to someone’s safety is considered a crime.
This is because the person making the threat most likely intends to carry out the threat to cause another person harm physical, which may include bodily injury, such a through rape, or even death.
Penal Code 422 states the person being threatened through social media must immediately fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her loved ones, including family and friends, for it to be a crime under the California law. Defense counsel forces the district attorney to prove “imminent threat,” a higher threshold.
To be charged with a crime, law enforcement must believe the person making the threat could immediately act on it and has the ability to carry it out. Someone found in violation of Penal Code 422 could be charged with either a felony or misdemeanor.
Those charged as a felony for making a criminal threat (or sometimes referred to as a terrorist threat) could face up to three years in state prison. A misdemeanor charge for making a criminal threat is punishable up to a year in county jail.
Penal Code 422
According to Penal Code 422, putting someone in a real state of fear is a criminal threat, plain and simple. The code defines a criminal threat as threatening to physically hurt or kill a person.
Again, it is a crime if the person being threatened is afraid for his or her and/or his or her family’s well-being. Even if the person really did not intend to carry out his or her threat toward another individual, he or she could face a criminal threat charge and would face possible punishment for his or her actions.
For example, someone who threatens, via Twitter, to bring a gun over to someone else’s home and start shooting, would be guilty of making a criminal or terrorist threat.
Even a fired employee could be charged with a violation of Penal Code 422 by making a verbal threat on the last day of work that the rest of the employees had better “watch their backs.”
However, an experienced criminal defense attorney can effectively argue that such a vague “gesture” or “speech” does not rise to a criminal threat on many grounds. Another example would be an ex-girlfriend sending a text message to her ex-boyfriend threatening to burn his home down since he no longer values their relationship.
Defending criminal threats made through social media
If you or a loved one have been charged in the North Bay with making a criminal threat, electronically, verbally or through social media, it is important to get in contact with a criminal defense attorney with extensive knowledge of Penal Code 422 and the free speech and other constitutional defenses.
Our law firm’s attorneys defend this charge(s) in court by first discussing the situation and context surrounding the alleged threat or threats toward the witness or “victim” as characterized by the District Attorney.
In the past we have successfully argued that the recipient of the threat wasn’t actually in fear, and hence there was no imminent danger. It is also our job to argue, under the appropriate circumstances, that the threat was quickly fleeting and could never have been carried out.
We have an arsenal of defenses in these types of cases and we know how to effectively use specific jury instructions to get better leverage to dismiss these types of charges, or if necessary through a trial, get an acquittal!
Furthermore, the accuser could have made a false allegation and there really was no criminal threat made.
For immediate help with your case, contact Fiumara & Milligan Law, PC today at 707-571-8600 OR 415-492-4507 for a free consultation.
We are in your corner to the end!
When Does A Social Media Threat Become Criminal?
