People v. Pierce CA5

INTRODUCTION

Two threatening voice messages were left for two Fresno police officers on their telephones. Following a jury trial, defendant Robert Danzel Pierce was found guilty for making both of those criminal threats in violation of Penal Code section 4221 (counts 1 & 5).2 Defendant contends these convictions should be reversed because the evidence was insufficient to establish he was the person who left the threatening messages. We hold that substantial evidence supports the jury’s verdicts in counts 1 and 5 establishing defendant violated section 422 and affirm the judgment.

All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.

In order to be found guilty of violating section 422, the evidence must show “‘(1) that the defendant “willfully threaten[ed] to commit a crime which [would] result in death or great bodily injury to another person,” (2) that the defendant made the threat “with the specific intent that the statement … [was] to be taken as a threat, even if there [was] no intent of actually carrying it out,” (3) that the threat—which may be “made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device”—was “on its face and…