Being Charged with Threatening to Kill Someone in Florida
It is not uncommon for someone to utter the threat “I could kill you” when they are angry at someone, but they are not seriously planning to act. It’s a way to depressurize anger when someone upsets us. But you can be prosecuted under Florida Statutes 784.011 for making a verbal threat to kill someone, usually a second-degree misdemeanor for simple assault. However every element of the crime must be present, or the charge will fail. Simple assault, which carries penalties of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, can also escalate into a felony when other elements of the escalated crime are met.
Being charged with threatening to kill someone in Florida is a crime that falls along a continuum. Our assault defense attorneys can help you manage that charge.
How Does Florida Define a Criminal Threat?
The law provides a way to determine when angry talk escalates to an actionable verbal threat. To be charged with threatening to harm someone, you must intentionally threaten a person; it cannot be a misunderstood utterance or accidental. You must have the ability to carry out the threat, meaning you cannot be at a far distance or over the phone. The threat must instill a genuine fear in the person threatened that a violent act will follow. The courts examine whether the parties have a history of conflict, what witnesses say the aggressor’s body language implies, how afraid the person threatened really is, and how close and believable the aggressor is when the threat is issued.
Although the charge for simple assault is generally a second-degree misdemeanor, brandishing a weapon when the threat is made will increase the charge to a third-degree felony. Repeating a threat over time allows the prosecutor to charge you with aggravated stalking instead.
Florida has also enacted even harsher penalties for threatening to kill someone in writing or through a computer. Included are threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism by broadcasting it on an internet social media site, or by email. Death threats in writing are second-degree felonies.
Penalties for Threatening to Kill Someone
Penalties rise from a second-degree misdemeanor for a simple assault from 60 days in jail, to harsher felonies.
Third-degree felonies such as aggravated assault (making a death threat with a weapon in your hand) or aggravated stalking can land you in prison for up to five years with a fine to pay of up to $5,000.
That second-degree felony charged for writing or texting a death threat comes with a harsh penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Aggravating and Mitigating Factors
Judges have the discretion after you are convicted of a first simple assault to sentence you to probation instead of jail time, using the first-time offense as a mitigating factor. Aggravating factors will help command a sentence at the top of the scale. These include a lengthy criminal history, making the threat while participating in additional criminal activity, threatening a law enforcement officer, an elderly person, or a child, or someone in a domestic relationship with you, and using a weapon to back up your threats.
Consult a Defense Attorney if You are Charged with Threatening to Kill Someone in Florida
Any criminal charge that will deprive you of your freedom, even for 60 days, warrants contacting an experienced criminal defense attorney for appropriate guidance. The well-respected attorneys at The Umansky Law Firm offer more than 100 years of combined experience, substantially as former criminal prosecutors who understand how the system works. Call now and learn how we can help you.
