When Can You Be Charged with Cyberstalking

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

I made a threat to a person on Facebook for harassment and defamation of character and this person was accusing me and my girlfriend of being sex and drug traffickers on Facebook for the world to see. It's a long story that I won't go in to. But I made the comment "If you don't stop your harassment and accusing us of this I'm gunna stick my shot gun barrel at the end of your nose" (also I was on vacation in North Carolina and this person was in Florida at the time this threat was made to her so there was in no way shape or form that I was even able to act on my threat made to her in the first place) and then I changed it up almost immediately after posting what I had said because I knew it was wrong moments after I posted it.

I was fuming at this whole situation and I had a moment of temper take over. I changed it to say "we will be pressing harassment charges" and they managed to find what I had posted before and made a police report on it. There was no arrest made and the cop just got my statement and my side of the story. I had apologized to her the following morning multiple times letting her know that my temper took over for a moment and I had no intent to do any act of violence towards her and there was no reason she should fear me at all. I've never had any issues with the law and never been convicted of anything.

She went that same day and filed the police report and I have since talked to multiple attorney's and I have gotten all kinds of different "charges" I could get. Since it is a felony of the 2nd degree to threaten anyone with bodily harm or kill, could I be charged with that? I mean she knows it wasn't an intent to do anything at all, she knows how sorry I really am for making said comment and that I want no issues, but I have been told it can be charged as "Assault/ Cyberstalking/ Felony or Written threat to cause bodily harm or kill" but in all honesty, how likely is it that the state will bother to pick it up and do anything with it seeing as how it is just Facebook drama and the victim knows it wasn't for real?

I have a new born daughter and a good life and have never had any problems with anyone so would the state go really hard on me for this? I'm honestly nervous about it. I'm obviously hoping the state just writes it off and gives a warning to me but if I were to be charged with anything, what would it be most likely? How much time or what punishment would I be looking at with this? I've been told anger management, maybe at best probation, and maybe a fine but I don't know... It's driving me absolutely crazy in my mind thinking of this..

You were in North Carolina at the time you posted the threat; the target of the threat was in Florida. So, potentially you might be charged in either state. Presumably, the target complained to police in Florida, and so that is the most likely jurisdiction that might go after you for this. Based on your description of what you did, the most likely offense would seem to be the crime of sending a threatening communication, Florida statute section 836.10. That section reads:

Any person who writes or composes and also sends or procures the sending of any letter, inscribed communication, or electronic communication, whether such letter or communication be signed or anonymous, to any person, containing a threat to kill or to do bodily injury to the person to whom such letter or communication is sent, or a threat to kill or do bodily injury to any member of the family of the person to whom such letter or communication is sent commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

As you can see, that offense is a second degree felony. You will also note that the statute does not require that you intend to carry out the threat, have the immediate means to carry out the threat, or that the other person must feel threatened by it. Simply sending a communication containing a threat to kill or do bodily injury to the person is sufficient. The Florida courts spell this out as follows:

Section 836.10, Florida Statutes is violated if: (1) a person writes or composes a threat to kill or do bodily injury; (2) the person sends or procures the sending of that communication to another person; and (3) the threat is to the recipient of the communication or a member of his family. State v. Wise, 664 So.2d 1028, 1030 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); Smith. Similar to extortion, this crime does not require the actual intent to do harm or the ability to carry out the threat. See § 836.10, Fla. Stat.; Dudley v. State, 634 So.2d 1093, 1094 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Alonso v. State, 447 So.2d 1029, 1030 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984).

Saidi v. State, 845 So. 2d 1022, 1027 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003). I think a jury may well conclude that a threat to stick your shot gun barrel at the end of his nose implies a threat to kill or do bodily injury. In short, there is some risk of prosecution for at least this one offense.

The North Carolina law on this is less severe. It has the crime of communicating a threat, NC statute section 14-277.1:

(a) A person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if without lawful authority:

(1) He willfully threatens to physically injure the person or that person's child, sibling, spouse, or dependent or willfully threatens to damage the property of another;
(2) The threat is communicated to the other person, orally, in writing, or by any other means;
(3) The threat is made in a manner and under circumstances which would cause a reasonable person to believe that the threat is likely to be carried out; and
(4) The person threatened believes that the threat will be carried out.

(b) A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Here, it does matter whether one might reasonably believe that the threat is likely to be carried out and that the person receiving the threat believes that to be the case. This crime is only a misdemeanor charge, though a serious misdemeanor.

Finally, you were in North Carolina at the time you made the threat, the target was in Florida, and you used a computer to send the threat over the internet. That makes this an interstate crime, and thus federal law also has potentially been violated. The federal statute that best fits this crime is 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which states: “Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

You could potentially be charged by all three jurisdictions, NC, FL, and the federal government. That is not common; typically they would coordinate on something like this and one jurisdiction would be picked to prosecute it. But they don’t have to do that and all three could prosecute if they really wanted to. I think it likely, though, that if any were to go after you, it would be Florida. If convicted you could go to state prison for a number of years.

The real unknown here is whether any of the jurisdictions will actually prosecute for this. There is no way to predict that with any real certainty. It will just depend on the prosecutors that review the case and what they decide to do. It is possible nothing will come of it. If so, consider yourself very lucky. In today’s environment where we see violent shootings on an all too frequent basis, threats to kill or injure people are taken more seriously than in the past and not as easily dismissed as simply a joke, not serious, etc. Letting your anger get the best of you to the point of making this kind of threat is a problem. You may want to consider consulting a therapist or counselor to help you learn ways of managing anger that will avoid you wandering in the area of violent threats or actions.

In any event, all you can do now is wait and see what happens. No use stressing yourself overly much about it as there is nothing you can do at this point to change things and perhaps nothing will come of it. If something does come of it, that’s when you need to worry. I would suggest, however, that you figure out what attorney you will contact to help you should you be arrested and charged.

Your daughter needs to be your number one priority. If you have a problem controlling your temper. You need to get counseling. You also need to choose your Facebook friends more carefully. Your daughter will be going to school and reading before you know it. How would you feel if your daughter and her friends read what your Facebook friend and you posted ? If you are friends with this person in real life. You might want to end any and all contact off and on Facebook.