The criminal defense team at the Law Offices of Marshall, Bonus, Proetta & Oliver has been representing clients charged with terroristic threats, stalking harassment, aggravated assault, criminal mischief, kidnapping and criminal restraints in Essex County for over a decade. Our office is one of the largest criminal defense firms in the State let alone Essex County. Our attorneys have extensive experience representing clients charged with criminal offenses in towns like Newark, Bloomfield, Belleville, Fairfield, Verona, South Orange and West Orange. If you or a loved one has been charged with a criminal offense and would like a free consultation, then please contact our office directly at 973.733.2204. Now here is some key information on the offense of terroristic threats.
Montclair NJ Terroristic Threats Attorneys
What Must The State To Convict You Of Making a Terroristic Threat?
In order to obtain a terroristic threat conviction under 2C:12-3, the state must establish three (3) elements beyond reasonable doubt. The requirement including proving that the accused:
- Made a threat;
- That the said threat was to commit a crime of violence; and
- The threat was made with the purpose to terrorize the victim, to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation, to cause serious public inconvenience, or was otherwise in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience.
In proving a terroristic threat charge, it is important to keep in mind that the intent to cause terror is irrelevant as the State only needs to prove that the defendant’s actions constitute a terroristic threat under the aforementioned elements of the crime.
South Orange NJ Terroristic Threats Lawyers
How Serious Is A Terroristic Threat Offense?
Terroristic threats is a crime in the second or third degree depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident. You may be guilty of a crime of the third degree if you threaten to commit any crime of violence with the intention to terrorize another or to otherwise cause serious public inconvenience. You may also be guilty of a crime in the third degree if you threaten to kill another with the purpose to put that person in imminent fear of death under circumstances that would reasonably cause a victim to believe such threats. Terroristic threats may also be a crime of the second degree, which is more severe, if it occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. In this situation, the state does not need to prove that you were aware of a declared period of emergency, only that such a threat occurred.
Penalties For Making a Terroristic Threat
If convicted of terroristic threats in the third degree, you face between three and five years in state prison. The fine is up to $15,000. The penalties for a second degree crime of terroristic threats is much more serious and carries a presumption of incarceration. What that means is that it is a virtually certainty that you will go to jail if you are convicted of a second degree terroristic threat. This presumption does not apply to a third degree. The prison term is 5-10 years and the fine is $150,000.
Terrorist Threat Defense Lawyers, Bloomfield NJ
Although you might find this as a surprise, the offense of terrorist threats is fairly common in Essex County. And while this charge is always an indictable felony crime under NJ Law that is referred to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office for handling, there is often opportunity for our attorneys to accomplish quite a bit in terms of downgrading and/or dismissal, especially in the early stages of a case or even at Remand Court. To learn more about how our Essex County Defense Lawyers can help you, call our Newark Office any time of day or night for a free consultation.