New Canaan Threatening Lawyer

American culture includes a certain toughness that often manifests itself in threatening language. But threats uttered as a figure of speech can be taken out of context or taken with the wrong meaning and actually result in criminal charges.

Many people in New Canaan, Connecticut are unaware that threatening is a crime with severe penalties.

If you have been arrested in New Canaan for first or second-degree threatening, contact a New Canaan threatening lawyer that can advise you on how to proceed. Work with a skilled harassment attorney that can do their best to advocate for you.

What is First-Degree Threatening in New Canaan?

If an individual makes a physical threat or threatens to commit a violent crime in a manner that would ordinarily be considered threatening in the second-degree, the offense will escalate to threatening in the first-degree if the individual uses a firearm, threatens to use a firearm, or even pretends to have a firearm.

In addition, a threatening act will be considered threatening in the first-degree if an individual threatens to commit a crime involving the use of a hazardous substance or a crime of violence with the intent to cause evacuation of a public place or serious inconvenience to the public.

The intent may either be specific intent or, acting with reckless indifference to the risk of causing an evacuation or public inconvenience. A New Canaan threatening lawyer can further explain which factors can escalate the charges a person faces, and how it may impact their case.

Penalties for Threatening

Threatening in the first-degree is a felony in Connecticut. Under most circumstances, it is treated as a Class D felony with maximum penalties that include up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

If, however, the offense is committed on the grounds of a school, the crime becomes a Class C felony and the maximum penalties increase to 10 years imprisonment and a fine as high as $10,000.

Defining Threatening in the Second-Degree

Individuals can be arrested in New Canaan for threatening in the second-degree if they use a physical threat to intentionally make another person fear that they are in imminent danger of serious physical injury or if they threaten to commit a violent crime either to intentionally terrorize another or with reckless disregard of the likelihood of causing such fear.

Second-Degree Penalties

Although not as serious, threatening in the second-degree also carries the potential for significant penalties. If committed on school property, the offense is treated as a Class D felony just like threatening in the first-degree.

But in other circumstances, second-degree threatening is classified as a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum term of imprisonment of one year and a maximum fine of $2,000. A New Canaan threatening lawyer can work tirelessly in an attempt to mitigate the penalties that the defendant may face.

In addition, in threatening cases, courts often issue criminal protective orders or similar orders which must be complied with in order to avoid being arrested in New Canaan for violation o a criminal protective order under CGS 53a-223.

Contact a New Canaan Threatening Attorney Today

If you have been charged in New Canaan with threatening first or second-degree, then it is essential to understand the offense and understand your defense options.