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6.2-1 Threatening in the First Degree (Intentional) -- § 53a-61aa (a) (1) (A) and (a) (2) (A)
Revised to December 1, 2007
The defendant is charged [in count __] with threatening in the first degree. The statute defining this offense reads in pertinent part as follows:
a person is guilty of threatening in the first degree when such person threatens to commit <insert appropriate subsection:>
§ 53a-61aa (a) (1) (A): any crime involving the use of a hazardous substance
§ 53a-61aa (a) (2) (A): any crime of violence
with the intent to <insert as appropriate:>
terrorize another person.1
cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation.
cause serious public inconvenience.
For you to find the defendant guilty of this charge, the state must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
Element 1 - Threatened to
commit a crime
The first element is that the
defendant threatened to commit (any crime involving the use of a hazardous
substance / any crime of violence). The word "threat" has its ordinary
meaning. <Insert appropriate
definition:>
-
A hazardous substance is any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter which, because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness, or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health.
-
A crime of violence is one in which physical force is exerted for the purpose of violating, injuring, damaging, or abusing person or property.
Element 2 - Intent
The second element is that the
defendant had the specific intent with this threat to (terrorize another person
/ cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public
transportation / cause serious public inconvenience). [To terrorize means to scare or to cause intense fear or
apprehension.2]
A person acts "intentionally" with respect to a result when (his/her) conscious objective is to cause such result. <See Intent: Specific, Instruction 2.3-1.>
Conclusion
In summary, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) the defendant threatened to commit (any crime involving the use of a hazardous substance / any crime of violence), and 2) (he/she) specifically intended to (terrorize another person / cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation / cause serious public inconvenience).
If you unanimously find that the state
has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the crime of
threatening in the first degree, then you shall find the defendant guilty. On
the other hand, if you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements, you shall then find the defendant
not guilty.
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1 The element "to terrorize another person" is only applicable when the crime threatened is one involving the use of a hazardous substance.
2 State v. Dyson, 238 Conn. 784,
798-99 (1996); State v. Crudup, 81 Conn. App. 248, 261, cert. denied, 268
Conn. 913 (2004).