Terrorizing Felony In Guam

Terrorizing Felony pursuant to 9 GCA section 19.60 (a) and (b) (1994). This statute provides, Terrorizing; Defined & Punished. (a) a person is guilty of terrorizing if he communicates to any person a threat to commit or to cause to be committed a crime of violence dangerous to human life, against the person to whom the communication is made or another, and the natural and probable consequence of such a threat, is to place the person to whom the threat is communicated or the person threatened in reasonable fear that crime will be committed. (b) Terrorizing is a felony of the third degree. Although the Guam Legislature used the term "terrorizing," in drafting 9 GCA section 19.60 (a) and (b), other jurisdictions use the term "terroristic threat" in statutes that seek to prohibit the same conduct. In those jurisdictions, courts have expressly stated that it is not an essential element of the offense of making a terroristic threat that the victim actually be placed in fear of imminent harm. See generally Smith v. State, 296 Ark. 451, 757 S.W.2d 554 (1988). In Smith, the defendant was tried and convicted of seven counts of terroristic threats. Id. at 555. the charges stemmed from an incident whereby the defendant waved a gun around and threatened to kill everyone in the building. Id. Despite the fact that no evidence was presented to prove that all seven people who were in the building were terrorized, the court upheld the conviction. Id. at 556. The court held that, "the conduct prohibited by this section is the communication of the threat with the purpose of terrorizing another. It is not necessary that the recipient of the threat actually be terrorized." Id. Ark. Code Ann. 5-13-301 (a) (1) (1987) provides: "A person commits the offense of terroristic threatening in the first degree if, with the purpose of terrorizing another person, he threatens to cause death or serious physical injury or substantial property damage to another person." Similarly, in Boone v. State, 155 Ga. App. 937, 274 S.E. 2d 49, 51 (1980), two brothers held a rifle and a shotgun on two undercover agents. An agent testified that one defendant threatened that, "if we were the law, he was going to blow us away." Id. at 50. Addressing the level and nature of the agent's fear, the court held that, "the crime of terroristic threats focuses solely on the conduct of the accused and is completed when the threat is communicated to the victim with intent to terrorize." Id. at 51. the court affirmed the convictions. Id. .