Woman Threatens Sister With Knife After Sister Refuses to Make Beer Run

Posted in General on January 12, 2015

Siblings, even adult siblings, sometimes have disagreements that lead to fights. However, most of those arguments do not lead to threats to a person’s life and criminal charges. A Florida woman recently became enraged after her sister refused to take her on a beer run. How mad was she? The woman threatened to get a knife and stab her sister, and she then proceeded to grab a large knife. The woman’s nephew then decided to call the police for help, and the woman took ahold of the nephew by the hair. After the police arrived, the woman claimed that she was acting in self-defense after she was attacked by her family  for no reason. The police obviously didn’t believe that the woman wielded the knife in self-defense because she was charged with Aggravated Assault.

Pennsylvania Terroristic Threats and Assault Charges

Had this incident occurred in Pennsylvania, I do not believe that the woman would have been charged with a felony offense of Aggravated Assault. In order to charge Aggravated Assault, the police would require proof that the woman actually did something with the knife aside from merely possessing it. If she swung or attempted to stab her sister, then she could easily be charged with Aggravated Assault for attempting to cause serious bodily injury, but merely threatening a person with the weapon would not justify an Aggravated Assault charge.

The woman could have been charged with misdemeanor offenses of Terorristic Threats and Simple Assault. The Terroristic Threat charge under of 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2706 prohibits a person from directly or indirectly communicating a threat to commit any crime of violence with the intent to terrorize another. Threatening to get a knife to harm a person and then retrieving a knife would readily suffice to justify a Terroristic Threats charge. The woman could also be charged with a misdemeanor offense of Simple Assault. Under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2701(a)(3), a person can be charged with Simple Assault if they attempt by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Retrieving a knife after having threatened to kill a person would constitute putting a person in fear of serious bodily injury.

This woman is facing some serious charges and could end up serving some time in jail. Obviously, the presence of the knife increases the severity of the case and thereby increases the severity of the sentence that may be imposed by the judge. However, because the victims in the case are related to the defendant, they may forgive her extreme error in judgment and plead for leniency. Hopefully, the woman hires an experienced criminal defense attorney to protect her interests.