Death Threat Charges

[ian2000]

CALIFORNIA

I'm going to keep this short but if more detail is needed, I will elaborate.

I'm an 18 year old male and I have a girlfriend who is also 18. We are both seniors in high school and have been dating for almost 2 years. We are totally in love but her parents, in both of our opinions, are absolutely insane.

So it was my prom night and my friend was the driver for the night. We planned on staying at a friends house but my girlfriend's parents decided that it wasn't appropriate for her, so they picked her up at 5am and uninvited me to Coachella (which was happening the weekend after my prom). Note that my girlfriend wanted to stay at the house and only left because her parents became very threatening and angry.

I could go into more detail about what else they did to aggravate me, but my main concern is when I sent the following texts TO MY GIRLFRIEND expressing my anger:

"Oh my god i swear im going to f***ing kill your parents. How could they have uninvited me to coachella for something I didnt even do!?!? I wasnt the driver so how was I supposed to even get you home!?! I hate them so much i want to murder them. god."

Her response was:
"yeah i agree i hate them too and feel like killing them."

And then we continued to converse relatively normally. Note how she agreed with me in her expression of anger.
So her parents read the texts and continue to threaten to file a police report, send me to jail, and revoke my college enrollment. Saying "I'm so mad I want to kill you" is a common way of expressing anger and is obviously not a form of premeditating murder, in my opinion. I agree with them on the fact that it was wrong to say that, but what can they actually get me in trouble for?

Thanks for your time, readers.

 

[CdwJava]

CALIFORNIA

I'm going to keep this short but if more detail is needed, I will elaborate.

I'm an 18 year old male and I have a girlfriend who is also 18. We are both seniors in high school and have been dating for almost 2 years. We are totally in love but her parents, in both of our opinions, are absolutely insane.

Parents who do not agree with the choices their children make might seem that way ... to their children.

So it was my prom night and my friend was the driver for the night. We planned on staying at a friends house but my girlfriend's parents decided that it wasn't appropriate for her, so they picked her up at 5am and uninvited me to Coachella (which was happening the weekend after my prom). Note that my girlfriend wanted to stay at the house and only left because her parents became very threatening and angry.

I can't imagine why they might not want their daughter off fooling around overnight. When everyone is 18 AND living on their own, they can do what they want to. Until then, she can either listen to her mom and dad, or face the consequences for not heeding their rules.

I could go into more detail about what else they did to aggravate me, but my main concern is when I sent the following texts TO MY GIRLFRIEND expressing my anger:

"Oh my god i swear im going to f***ing kill your parents. How could they have uninvited me to coachella for something I didnt even do!?!? I wasnt the driver so how was I supposed to even get you home!?! I hate them so much i want to murder them. god."

Not smart, but not necessarily criminal on its face.

So her parents read the texts and continue to threaten to file a police report, send me to jail, and revoke my college enrollment. Saying "I'm so mad I want to kill you" is a common way of expressing anger and is obviously not a form of premeditating murder, in my opinion. I agree with them on the fact that it was wrong to say that, but what can they actually get me in trouble for?

Unless you have taken steps to move ahead with the threat to harm them, no crime would appear to have been committed. And, as long as your girlfriend does not find the messages to be annoying or harassing, then you appear to be golden.

Bottom line is that if your girlfriend wants to make grown up decisions and hook up and her parents disapprove, then she can choose to move out.

 

[Proserpina]

CALIFORNIA

I'm going to keep this short but if more detail is needed, I will elaborate.

I'm an 18 year old male and I have a girlfriend who is also 18. We are both seniors in high school and have been dating for almost 2 years. We are totally in love but her parents, in both of our opinions, are absolutely insane.

So it was my prom night and my friend was the driver for the night. We planned on staying at a friends house but my girlfriend's parents decided that it wasn't appropriate for her, so they picked her up at 5am and uninvited me to Coachella (which was happening the weekend after my prom). Note that my girlfriend wanted to stay at the house and only left because her parents became very threatening and angry.

I could go into more detail about what else they did to aggravate me, but my main concern is when I sent the following texts TO MY GIRLFRIEND expressing my anger:

"Oh my god i swear im going to f***ing kill your parents. How could they have uninvited me to coachella for something I didnt even do!?!? I wasnt the driver so how was I supposed to even get you home!?! I hate them so much i want to murder them. god."

Her response was:
"yeah i agree i hate them too and feel like killing them."

And then we continued to converse relatively normally. Note how she agreed with me in her expression of anger.
So her parents read the texts and continue to threaten to file a police report, send me to jail, and revoke my college enrollment. Saying "I'm so mad I want to kill you" is a common way of expressing anger and is obviously not a form of premeditating murder, in my opinion. I agree with them on the fact that it was wrong to say that, but what can they actually get me in trouble for?

Thanks for your time, readers.

CDW is probably the best person to answer this, but it certainly appears that you have made threats. Whether or not there's a viable case against you is another matter.

And while it may be common (amongst teens, maybe? Certainly not reasonable adults), that's not a rational response.

 

[CdwJava]

CDW is probably the best person to answer this, but it certainly appears that you have made threats. Whether or not there's a viable case against you is another matter.

And while it may be common (amongst teens, maybe? Certainly not reasonable adults), that's not a rational response.

Criminal threats per PC 422 has some very specific requirements. Among them is the apparent ability and willingness to carry out the threat, and a reasonable belief that the suspect will carry them out. In this case, they would also have to charge their daughter. It does not appear that the elements of PC 422 have been met.

The only other one that comes to mind is misdemeanor harassing communications per PC 653m. But, since the daughter is engaging in this, the communications do not appear to be harassing in any way as they are directed to and from the OP and the daughter, and not the parents.

It sounds as if the parents are angling for anything to try and keep the two of them apart ... maybe with cause, maybe not. But, if they want to hook up, she can move out. Hope they are ready to get jobs, live on their own, and run the risk of babies.

 

[ian2000]

Thank you both.

It sounds as if the parents are angling for anything to try and keep the two of them apart ... maybe with cause, maybe not. But, if they want to hook up, she can move out. Hope they are ready to get jobs, live on their own, and run the risk of babies.

To clarify, I do believe they are trying to do anything to keep us apart. We are moving to college soon and hope that we will be dealing with less of the parents.

Unless you have taken steps to move ahead with the threat to harm them, no crime would appear to have been committed. And, as long as your girlfriend does not find the messages to be annoying or harassing, then you appear to be golden.

Bottom line is that if your girlfriend wants to make grown up decisions and hook up and her parents disapprove, then she can choose to move out.

That is the only threat I have ever made to them. Period. Let alone have I been suggesting that I would carry out such wishes.

Unless you have taken steps to move ahead with the threat to harm them, no crime would appear to have been committed. And, as long as your girlfriend does not find the messages to be annoying or harassing, then you appear to be golden.

She is 100% on my side. I can see why anyone would think that her parents are simply doing their job and looking out for her, but I beg to differ. I believe their reaction alone to the "death threat" is enough to prove that. But that's not the point.

The reason why I ask is because of course I DO NOT want to lose my college enrollment and scholarships. Also very important, they called my mom and told her that if we continue talking, they will file a police report. Note that the first time they called they threatened to go to the local police department of THEIR city. After my girlfriend and I continued talking (again she is totally OK talking) they found out and they threatened to file the report under MY local police department since we're from adjacent cities. This makes me think they already tried to do this in their city and are now moving to my city after a failed attempt.

 

[CdwJava]

Thank you both.


To clarify, I do believe they are trying to do anything to keep us apart. We are moving to college soon and hope that we will be dealing with less of the parents.

Unless she is paying the full college ride on her own, she may want to be careful how much she alienates her parents. It's likely they will hold some or all of the purse strings for some time, and that can buy them a good measure of say in her activities.

She is 100% on my side. I can see why anyone would think that her parents are simply doing their job and looking out for her, but I beg to differ. I believe their reaction alone to the "death threat" is enough to prove that. But that's not the point.

Mature, reasonable people do not make such comments even in anger. You can see the problems they cause. But, the two of you are still young - teenagers, even. So, rash, immature, and ill-conceived actions are in your nature in spite of the belief that teenagers have that they are mature, responsible and adult.

The reason why I ask is because of course I DO NOT want to lose my college enrollment and scholarships. Also very important, they called my mom and told her that if we continue talking, they will file a police report. Note that the first time they called they threatened to go to the local police department of THEIR city. After my girlfriend and I continued talking (again she is totally OK talking) they found out and they threatened to file the report under MY local police department since we're from adjacent cities. This makes me think they already tried to do this in their city and are now moving to my city after a failed attempt.

They can try to report this to anyone, but the fact remains that there appears to be no crime here. The agency of jurisdiction would be the location where the threats were received - i.e. their residence, most likely.

 

[ian2000]

They can try to report this to anyone, but the fact remains that there appears to be no crime here. The agency of jurisdiction would be the location where the threats were received - i.e. their residence, most likely.

So can they or can they not come to MY city to file the report? Must they stay within their own jurisdiction?

Unless she is paying the full college ride on her own, she may want to be careful how much she alienates her parents. It's likely they will hold some or all of the purse strings for some time, and that can buy them a good measure of say in her activities.

I completely agree. I will definitely discuss that with her. But my main concern is what they can do to me alone. And moreover I am just sick of them calling my parents threatening to take me to jail over this stupid comment I made.

 

[CdwJava]

So can they or can they not come to MY city to file the report? Must they stay within their own jurisdiction?

They can try. If you are in the same county, it might not make any difference if they could articulate a crime of some kind. Who would get the report is the least of your worries if a crime has been committed, and you have no control over that aspect of it anyway.

I completely agree. I will definitely discuss that with her. But my main concern is what they can do to me alone. And moreover I am just sick of them calling my parents threatening to take me to jail over this stupid comment I made.

Maybe you can apologize? Stand up, go over there with your girlfriend, and both of you tell her parents that you were angry, wrong, and inconsiderate, and apologize for the remarks along with your girlfriend. In person, not by phone or text ... manning up might impress them far better than hiding and sending them a message.

 

[ian2000]

Maybe you can apologize? Stand up, go over there with your girlfriend, and both of you tell her parents that you were angry, wrong, and inconsiderate, and apologize for the remarks along with your girlfriend. In person, not by phone or text ... manning up might impress them far better than hiding and sending them a message.

Honestly I would love to. But I'm scared of what they would do to me. They said they don't want me going anywhere near their property or interacting with them at all. One time around December when they had a smaller, yet still violent reaction, I was in the parking lot talking with my girlfriend and they came out and told me to leave and my girlfriend didn't want that to happen. They proceeded to drag her out of my car and across the parking lot and she had bruises all over her. I just dont want that to happen to her, or me!

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Honestly I would love to. But I'm scared of what they would do to me. They said they don't want me going anywhere near their property or interacting with them at all. One time around December when they had a smaller, yet still violent reaction, I was in the parking lot talking with my girlfriend and they came out and told me to leave and my girlfriend didn't want that to happen. They proceeded to drag her out of my car and across the parking lot and she had bruises all over her. I just dont want that to happen to her, or me!

Alternatively, there's (for now) this thing called mail.