California Penal Code
Penal Code § 422 Criminal Threats
Makes it a crime to willfully threaten a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury, causing sustained fear.
Statute text, verbatim
What the code actually says
The verbatim text for this section is being re-verified. Read it on the official California legislative site in the meantime.
Read on leginfo.legislature.ca.govReport readiness
What a report needs to survive this charge.
Knowing the code is the easy part. Cases get kicked when the narrative never documents an element the prosecutor has to prove.
Elements to document
- The suspect willfully threatened a crime causing death or great bodily injury
- The threat was unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific
- The victim was actually in sustained fear
- That fear was reasonable under the circumstances
Common report defects
- The threat is paraphrased instead of quoted verbatim
- Sustained fear is asserted without the victim's own words
- Immediacy and specificity are never analyzed
Abbreviated for reference. Report960 runs the full element and defect checklist against your narrative and quotes the exact passage behind every finding. This page is not legal advice.
Related sections
Charges that travel together.
Check a Penal Code § 422 report
Every element, checked.Every finding, quotable.
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