Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: What is considered a Terrorist Threat

The term "terrorist threat" is a bit misleading because the threat need not involve what we generally think of as terrorism. Instead, the crime involves a threatening statement which makes the object of the statement reasonably fear that the speaker is going to carry out that threat imminently. (This is a bit of an oversimplification, but it will do for present purposes.) The speaker must intend that his statement be understood as a threat, but he need not intend to actually go through with it.

Based on what you have said, I do not believe you are guilty of this crime. Telling people at the pharmacy that you were going to go somewhere else and kill someone doesn't fit the definition because no one who heard the statement could reasonably interpret it as a threat against them. Telling person A that you are going to hurt person B isn't a violation unless person B hears the statement.

The statement you describe doesn't strike me as a threat at all, since you didn't say you were going to kill anyone but rather that you thought (past tense) that you were going to have to kill someone -- a thought that you must no longer have held when you made the statement, even if you had actually held it before.

The fact that you were being, as you so aptly put it, a smart ass and didn't intend to be taken seriously also means you are innocent, though it is hard to prove state of mind. Fortunately for you, the prosecutor will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you intended your statement to be taken as a threat and you won't have to prove otherwise.

The way I see it, you are innocent because: (a) your statement was not actually a threat; (b) you did not intend it to be taken as a threat; (c) it could not be reasonably interpreted as a threat; and (d) even if it could be understood as a threat, the people who heard it were not the ones being threatened and had no reason to fear for their own safety.

If the prosecution agrees with your version of the facts, this should be an easy charge to beat. In fact, I'm quite startled that the D.A. charged you at all.

Re: What is considered a Terrorist Threat

First hire a good criminal attorney and do not talk with the police. Such a statement in the present climate would probably be considered to be a terrorist threat. The advice of an attorney is imperative in your case.