2018 Vermont Statutes
Title 13 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Chapter 39 - Extortion And Threats
§ 1702 Criminal threatening
§ 1702. Criminal threatening
(a) A person shall not by words or conduct knowingly:
(1) threaten another person; and
(2) as a result of the threat, place the other person in reasonable apprehension of death or serious bodily injury.
(b) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both.
(c) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section with the intent to prevent another person from reporting to the Department for Children and Families the suspected abuse or neglect of a child shall be imprisoned not more than two years or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Serious bodily injury" shall have the same meaning as in section 1021 of this title.
(2) "Threat" and "threaten" shall not include constitutionally protected activity.
(e) Any person charged under this section who is under 18 years of age shall be adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent.
(f) It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that the person did not have the ability to carry out the threat. The burden shall be on the defendant to prove the affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence. (Added 2015, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 6b.)
