TERRORISM CONVICTION NOT SUPPORTED BY LEGALLY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE DEFENDANT INTENDED TO INFLUENCE THE POLICY OR ACTIONS OF THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE WHEN HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO ‘COME BACK AND SHOOT THE PLACE DOWN’ (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s “terrorism” conviction after trial, determined there was legally insufficient evidence defendant intended to influence the policy or actions of a governmental body, here the Warren County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO). When defendant was told at the sheriff’s office that his certificate of disposition was insufficient and defendant’s property could not be returned to him, he allegedly said he would “come back and shoot the place down.” He was convicted of making a terroristic threat and sentenced to five years in prison:

… [T]he record contains no evidence of a necessary element of the crime of making a terroristic threat — that defendant intended to influence a policy of a governmental unit by intimidation or coercion, or that he intended to affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping. [The sheriff’s evidence custodian] testified that as defendant exited the lobby of the WCSO building, he was mumbling to himself and she “heard the word shoot.” She then asked defendant what he had said, and he replied by stating “come back and shoot the place down.” Defendant made no statement relating his threat to any policy of the WCSO or demanding that it take any specific action. People v Kaplan, 2019 NY Slip Op 00329, Third Dept 1-17-19