Mr. Miller was sentenced, among other issues, on federal charges related to threatening an Alachua County Judge. With cases involving written threats, it is important to scrutinize, word for word, the entire message conveyed.
The State has to prove that the message was sent with the intent to kill or do serious bodily harm. When charged with a threat towards public officials, the threat must also be specific and a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of violence. I would argue that a message was not sent with any serious expression and that the threat was general and lacked the intent needed. For cases involving threats to non-elected officials, the Government must also show that the Defendant intended the threat to be true. Again, generalized messages with vague threats often do not arise to the level of being a criminal offense. It's also up to the government to prove that the defendant was the one who authored and sent the threat to the individual. Often, while the Government may have a written threat, it is a whole other matter for them to prove that the Defendant wrote it. If the Government cannot prove that the Defendant even wrote the message in the first place, then the Defendant cannot be found guilty of the offense. I would look into defenses such as handwriting discrepancies between the message and the Defendant’s known handwriting. If the message is sent via email or text, I would look into whether the account is associated with or known by the Defendant. If you or your loved one are being accused of committing a crime, you should consult with one of our Criminal Defense Attorneys, don’t hesitate to call us at
352-WIN-4YOU We are available 24/7 and we offer payment plans.
