Q: If one person yells at another person "You're a dead man" is this considered a threat?
Unfortunately we had a drowning in our area over the weekend. This happened at 12:30 pm and his body was not found until 8:30 pm. Of course the news crews were there along with a local wanna be newsman. When they finally found the body and brought him to shore his family gathered around him. The two reputable news crews stood back in the distance but the local guy tried to get close enough to see or photograph the body. He was told by family members and friends that were surrounding the man's body to get out of there and they would not let him close enough to see anything. This infuriated him and he looked at one guy and told him that he was a dead man.
The man who was told this went to the state police and was told there was nothing they could do for him. He could not even get a PFA against him.
Is this not considered a threat?
A: Probably not. Terroristic threats involves a true intent to terrorize. Threatening things said during moments of transitory anger do not really qualify.
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