U.S. v. Ogren, 54 M.J. 481

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Art. 134 - Miscellaneous -- Clause 1, Clause 2, or Clause 3 Pre-2019 offenses

1. Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, requires that the Government prove two essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the threat rendered was a "true" threat, and (2) that the threat was knowing and willful
2. under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, only “true threats” satisfy the statute’s threshold of criminal conduct and put the conduct beyond the protections of the First Amendment; whether a statement is a “true threat” is determined by (1) the context, (2) whether the threat is expressly conditional in nature, and (3) the reaction of the listeners
3. under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, the threat must be “knowing and willful”; whether a threat is knowing and willful is determined by an objective test requiring only that the defendant intentionally make a statement, written or oral, in a context or under such circumstances wherein a reasonable person would foresee that the statement would be interpreted by those to whom the maker communicates the statement as a serious expression of an intention to inflict bodily harm upon or to take the life of the President
4. appellant’s threats against the President of the United States, made while appellant was in pretrial confinement, where legally sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that appellant threatened the life of the President, in violation of 18 USC § 871(a), where: (1) the threats were “true threats” in that they were not conditional and the specific context as well as the reaction of the listeners set these words apart from appellant’s other expressions; and (2) the threats were knowing and willful because appellant should have reasonably foreseen that his threats would be understood to be more than a crude method of responding to his confinement

Miscellaneous Matters: Statutes, Treaties, Regulations, Executive Orders, Directives, etc.: United States Code

1. Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, requires that the Government prove two essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the threat rendered was a "true" threat, and (2) that the threat was knowing and willful
2. under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, only “true threats” satisfy the statute’s threshold of criminal conduct and put the conduct beyond the protections of the First Amendment; whether a statement is a “true threat” is determined by (1) the context, (2) whether the threat is expressly conditional in nature, and (3) the reaction of the listeners
3. under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, the threat must be “knowing and willful”; whether a threat is knowing and willful is determined by an objective test requiring only that the defendant intentionally make a statement, written or oral, in a context or under such circumstances wherein a reasonable person would foresee that the statement would be interpreted by those to whom the maker communicates the statement as a serious expression of an intention to inflict bodily harm upon or to take the life of the President
4. appellant’s threats against the President of the United States, made while appellant was in pretrial confinement, where legally sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that appellant threatened the life of the President, in violation of 18 USC § 871(a), where: (1) the threats were “true threats” in that they were not conditional and the specific context as well as the reaction of the listeners set these words apart from appellant’s other expressions; and (2) the threats were knowing and willful because appellant should have reasonably foreseen that his threats would be understood to be more than a crude method of responding to his confinement