What if I did not mean the threat?

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What if I did not mean the threat?

You can be guilty of uttering threats even if you did not mean the threat. The legal test is not whether you actually intended to follow through with the threat, but whether you intended it to be taken seriously – to make the person feel threatened. The threat itself is the crime, not whether you were going to do what you threatened to do.

The judge can conclude that you intended to threaten the person based on the context, including whether the person felt threatened. However, you can be guilty of uttering threats even if the person did not feel threatened. Again, the question is whether you intended to make them feel threatened with your words or actions. I discuss what is and is not considered a threat in the FAQ “What is legally considered a threat?”.