Cal. Codes » Penal Code

Cal. Penal Code § 422

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CA-LEGleginfo.legislature.ca.gov JustiaCode on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a)Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for their own safety or for their immediate family’s safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.

(b)In sentencing a person convicted of a felony violation of subdivision (a), the court may consider, as a factor in aggravation, that the defendant willfully threatened to commit a crime that would result in the death or great bodily injury of a person the defendant knew was a state constitutional officer, a Member of the Legislature, or a judge or court commissioner, as defined in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (n), and (q) of Section 7920.500 of the Government Code.

(c)(1)For purposes of this section, “immediate family” means any spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior six months, regularly resided in the household.

(2)For purposes of this section, “electronic communication device” includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular telephones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. “Electronic communication” has the same meaning as the term is defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 762 cases (271 in the last 5 years), 1981–2026 · leading case: Javier Arellano Hernandez v. Loretta E. Lynch
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Javier Arellano Hernandez v. Loretta E. Lynch (2016) ca9 · cites it 8× “SMITH, Circuit Judge: Javier Arellano Hernandez’s conviction for attempted criminal threats, pursuant to California Penal Code sections 422 and 664, constitutes an aggravated felony for which he is removable.”
People v. Gonzalez (2017) cal · cites it 5× “" (Pen. Code, § 422, subd. (a).) The question here is whether defendant's conduct, which included a hand gesture unaccompanied by words or sound, qualifies as a "statement, made verbally.”
Lakhwinder Latter-Singh v. Eric H. Holder Jr. (2012) ca9 · cites it 8× “Singh claims that the BIA wrongly determined that a violation of California Penal Code § 422 constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude (or “CIMT”), thus rendering him removable.”
State v. Olsen (2014) wash · cites it 6× “Cal. Penal Code § 422 (a) defined “terrorist threats” 3 as [a]ny person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an…”
People v. Brown (2004) cal · cites it 4× “[4] The jury was unable to agree on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon on Pipes, and on the two charges relating to Miller; these charges were later dismissed at the prosecutor's request.”
United States v. Pablo Calvillo-Palacios (2017) ca9 · cites it 5× “2010), we concluded that California Penal Code § 422, which criminalized “willfully threaten[ing] to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person,” was categorically a crime of violence under § 2L1.”
United States v. Jesus Torres-Miguel (2012) ca4 · cites it 5× “In its presentence investigation report (“PSR”), the probation officer recommended a sixteen-level increase to Torres-Miguel’s base offense level on the basis of his prior conviction under California Penal Code § 422(a). That statute prohibits, as a felony, willfully threatening…”
United States v. Randly Begay (2019) ca9 · cites it 3× “2003) ( Cal. Penal Code § 422 ). 8 Arellano Hernandez v.”
United States v. Villavicencio-Burruel (2010) ca9 · cites it 5× “The IJ determined that, because of a 2005 conviction for making criminal threats under California Penal Code section 422, which the IJ determined to be an aggravated felony, Villavicencio was not eligible for relief of cancellation of removal, voluntary departure, or adjustment…”
People v. Cravens (2012) cal · cites it 2× “BACKGROUND Defendant was convicted by a jury of various crimes against a number of victims: one count of making a criminal threat (Pen. Code, § 422); one count of battery ( id.”
People v. George T. (2004) cal · cites it 2× “" (Pen.Code, § 422, italics added.) *76 Applying the independent review standard proper for cases implicating First Amendment interests, I agree the evidence does not establish this specific element.”
Adams v. Kraft (2011) cand · cites it 12× “Hauck states that he promptly looked up the elements of California Penal Code § 422 and began asking Inloes follow-up questions to determine whether probable cause to arrest Adams existed.”
Show all 762 citing cases →
— Cal. Penal Code § 422(a) — 16 cases
United States v. Jesus Torres-Miguel (2012) ca4 “In its presentence investigation report (“PSR”), the probation officer recommended a sixteen-level increase to Torres-Miguel’s base offense level on the basis of his prior conviction under California Penal Code § 422(a). That statute prohibits, as a felony, willfully threatening…”
Javier Arellano Hernandez v. Loretta E. Lynch (2016) ca9 “SMITH, Circuit Judge: Javier Arellano Hernandez’s conviction for attempted criminal threats, pursuant to California Penal Code sections 422 and 664, constitutes an aggravated felony for which he is removable.”
United States v. Bell (2016) cand
Machado v. Boyd (2025) cand
State v. Olsen (2014) wash
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.