CR28-641 01/11/21
CRIMINAL
THREATENING – 13 V.S.A. § 1702(a)
The State has charged (Def)_______________
with Criminal Threatening, as follows:
[Read the charge.]
Every crime is made up of essential elements. Before (Def)_______________ can
be found guilty of this charge, the State must have proven each of these
essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt. Here the essential elements are
that on the date and at the place alleged,
(1) (Def)_______________;
(2) by
words or conduct threatened another person, (victim)_______________;
(3) as a result of the threat, [he] [she] placed
(victim)_______________ in reasonable apprehension of death or serious bodily
injury; and
(4) [he]
[she] did so knowingly.
The
first essential element is that (Def)_______________ is the person who
committed the alleged acts.
The
second essential element is that (Def)_______________ by words or conduct
threatened another person, (victim)_______________. To threaten
another person means to communicate, by words or by deeds, an intention to
inflict imminent harm upon that other person. Whether conduct amounts to a
threat is generally discerned from the perspective of a reasonable person under
similar circumstances. Here, the State alleges that (Def)_______________
threatened (victim)_______________ by (specific acts alleged)_______________. [The
threat may be explicit, for example, it may be a direct verbal threat.
The threat may also be implicit, consisting of words or conduct which a
reasonable person would understand to be a threat. Whether the threat was
explicit or implicit, the State must have proven that (Def)_______________
communicated an intent to inflict harm upon (victim)_______________.]
The
third essential element is that (Def)_______________, as a
result of the threat, placed (victim)_______________ in reasonable
apprehension of death or serious bodily injury.
Serious
bodily injury means bodily injury which creates a
substantial risk of death or which causes substantial loss or impairment of the
function of any bodily member or organ or substantial impairment of health, or
substantial disfigurement. In contrast, the term bodily injury
means physical pain, illness or any impairment of
physical condition.
Reasonable
apprehension refers to fear that is justified under the
circumstances, as judged from the point of view of an objective, ordinary,
reasonable person. In other words, the fear
must be one which would normally be aroused in the mind of an objective,
ordinary, reasonable person under those same circumstances.
The
last essential element is that (Def)_______________ acted knowingly. The State
must have proven that (Def)_______________ acted knowingly, and not
inadvertently, or because of mistake, or by accident. You may find that (Def)_______________
acted knowingly if [he] [she] was aware that [his] [her] conduct would place,
or was practically certain to place, (victim)_______________ in reasonable
apprehension of death or serious bodily injury.
All of the elements of the
offense must have been present at the same time. If the State has not proven
each of the essential elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, then
you must find (Def)_______________ not guilty. If the State has
proven each of the essential elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,
then you must return a verdict of guilty.