The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Eddie Jason Lowery, Defendant and Appellant

Summary

The court held that section 140(a) is constitutional because it applies only to statements that a reasonable listener, considering the context and surrounding circumstances, would understand as a serious expression of an intent to commit unlawful violence. The statute does not require a specific intent to intimidate, an intent to carry out the threat, immediacy, or apparent ability to do so. The court reversed the Court of Appeal's judgment and remanded for that court to determine the effect of the clarified construction on defendant's conviction. BAXTER, J., concurring, agreed with the result but separately emphasized that the Constitution does not require proof of a subjective intent to make the statement be understood as a threat.