Conn. Crim. Jury Instr. 6.2-2

The defendant is charged [in count__] with threatening in the first degree. The statute defining

this offense reads in pertinent part as follows:

a person is guilty of threatening in the first degree when such person threatens to

commit <insert appropriate subsection:>

• § 53a-61aa (a) (1) (B): any crime involving the use of a hazardous substance

• § 53a-61aa (a) (2) (B): any crime of violence

in reckless disregard of the risk of <insert as appropriate:>

• terrorizing another person.

• causing evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation.

• causing serious public inconvenience.

For you to find the defendant guilty of this charge, the state must prove the following elements

beyond a reasonable doubt:

Element 1 - Threatened to commit a crime

The first element is that the defendant threatened to commit (any crime involving the use of a

hazardous substance / any crime of violence). <Insert appropriate definition:>

• A hazardous substance is any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or

matter which, because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious

characteristics, may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an

increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness, or pose a substantial

present or potential hazard to human health.

• A crime of violence is one in which physical force is exerted for the purpose of violating,

injuring, damaging, or abusing person or property.

A threat can only be punishable when it is a true threat. <See True Threats, Instruction 2.2-8.>

Element 2 - Recklessness

The second element is that the defendant acted in reckless disregard of the risk that this threat

would (terrorize another person / cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of

public transportation / cause serious public inconvenience). [To terrorize means to cause

intense fear or apprehension.

2]

A person acts “recklessly” with respect to a result or circumstances when (he/she) is aware of

and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that

such circumstances exist. <See Recklessness, Instruction 2.3-4.>

Conclusion

In summary, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) the defendant threatened to

commit (any crime involving the use of a hazardous substance / any crime of violence), and 2)

(he/she) acted with reckless disregard of the risk of (terrorizing another person / causing

evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation / causing serious

public inconvenience).

If you unanimously find that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements

of the crime of threatening in the first degree, then you shall find the defendant guilty. On the

other hand, if you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt

any of the elements, you shall then find the defendant not guilty.

1 The element “to terrorize another person” is only applicable when the crime threatened is one

involving the use of a hazardous substance.

2 State v. Dyson, 238 Conn. 784, 798-99 (1996).