Death Threats Law in Mississippi

While probably plenty of people mock death threats or make pretend threats all over the country every day, most people aren’t arrested and charged with death threats or criminal threats. In order to be convicted of making a death threat, a variety of factors have to be satisfied. These cases aren’t quite as simple as he said, she said. Since many of these cases involve people with longstanding relationships, potential grudges or other historical issues, it’s important to let your lawyer do the talking. If you’ve been arrested and charged with making death threats, exercise your right to remain silent and wait for your attorney.

Death Threats and Criminal Threats

In the heightened and sensitive criminal justice landscape of our time, death threats and other criminal threats are understandably taken very seriously. It’s important to remember that just because a person is suspected of or arrested for making a death threat, that doesn’t mean he or she is actually guilty. Since these charges are very serious, it’s absolutely critical to have an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side as soon after an arrest as possible. Since many of these cases can involve he said, she said testimonies, it’s also important to exercise your right against self-incrimination. If you’ve been arrested, wait for your lawyer before talking with investigators about the case.

Death Threat Scenarios 

• Did you terrorize another person? 
• Did you cause the evacuation of a building, public or private assembly, or facility of public transportation? 
• Did you cause serious public inconvenience? 
• Did you recklessly disregard the risk of causing such inconvenience or terror of others? 

A Believable Threat 

Really, the most important element of any death threat case is whether or not the threat was believable by a reasonable person. Since many cases involve pretend threats or fake threats, it’s important to be able to distinguish between what is a believable threat and what was just blowing smoke or joking. The prosecution will likely try to build a case in attempts to build credibility on the believability of a threat, so you need an attorney who has demonstrated criminal threats case experience on your side ready to fight for you.

Three Different Kinds of Death Threats 

• Verbally, in person  
• In writing  
• Electronically 

Death Threat Defenses 

Depending upon the unique circumstances of your case, one or more of a variety of different criminal defenses to death threats may be appropriate. For example, if your so-called death threat was not specific, your lawyer may use that in your defense. If the threat was vague or ambiguous, you shouldn’t be convicted of a crime. Furthermore, if the person you threatened could not have even reasonably feel threatened or scared for his or her life, that’s not a credible or believable death threat. The person you threatened actually needed to fear for his or her life in order for a conviction of a death threat. These petty he said, she said cases can typically involve long standing grudges and people who may or may not have made threats and so-called victims who may or may not have even feared for their lives at all.

Elements of a Death Threat 

Death threat convictions involve a variety of complicated factors. In order to be convicted of a death threat, a couple of important elements have to be satisfied first. Can the prosecutor prove that you willfully threatened to kill somebody? Did you make the threat verbally, in writing or electronically? Did you truly intended for that person to take that as a death threat? Was the threat clear, immediate, unconditional and specific? Did the death threat cause the person to fear for his or her life? Was the fear reasonable? Short-lived threats and poorly communicated so-called threats can also mean a credible and believable death threat was never actually made.