TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appeals court ruled Monday that posting threats on one’s personal Facebook page can be prosecuted under state law.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel on the 1st District Court of Appeals found that threatening statements posted by Timothy Ryan O’Leary could be considered “sending” for the purposes of the law.
A Florida Statue specifies that sending communication to any person “containing a threat to kill or to do bodily injury to the person to whom such letter or communication is sent,” constitutes a second degree felony.
The appeals court upheld a Duval County circuit judge’s refusal to dismiss a case against O’Leary, who posted a Facebook rant threatening a relative and her same-sex partner in 2011.
In court documents describing the case, O’Leary had posted this Facebook status on his personal page, threatening the relative and her partner by name:
“FUCK my [relative] for choosin (sic) to be a lesbian and fuck [the partner] cuz you’re an ugly ass bitch . . . if you ever talk to me like you got a set of nuts between your legs again . . . I’m gonna fuck you up and bury your bitch ass. U wanna act like a man. I’ll tear the concrete up with your face and drag you back to your doorstep. U better watch how the fuck you talk to people. You were born a woman and you better stay one.”
The relative addressed in the statement did not see the post on O’Leary’s Facebook profile, but found out about it indirectly through another family member.
O’Leary argued he couldn’t be charged because he did not “send” the threatening language to his relative, but the Duval County judge denied his request to dismiss the charges.
After the state dropped one of two counts, O’Leary pleaded no contest to the remaining count. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of probation. The probation requirement was later reduced to two years.O’Leary appealed, and the appeals court sided with the trial judge.
In its ruling, the Appellate Court found that “by posting his threats” on his Facebook page, “it is reasonable to presume that (O’Leary) wished to communicate that information to all of his Facebook friends.”
The court added, “Had the appellant desired to put his thoughts into writing for his own personal contemplation, he could simply have recorded them in a private journal, diary or any other medium that is not accessible by other people. Thus, by the affirmative act of posting the threats on Facebook, even though it was on his own personal page, appellant ‘sent’ the threatening statements to all of his Facebook friends,” including the family member of the victim who saw the threat.
Legal analysts see this as a landmark ruling that will set precedent for future cases in the state.
Filed under: Florida
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That needs to spread throughout the world.
FINALLY!!!
GOOD
Sure is a felony…
I agree with it…..
And from the ruling, the threat does not need to be made TO the person, or even seen BY the person (who therefore does not even have to have a FB account).
Hmmm….. thatʻs a slippery slope!! But then, itʻs Florida…. should we be shocked?? No.
lol @sean but i still think its an awesome start even if i am a floridian
A logical conclusion. Facebook is a public forum, and delivering a threat online is absolutely the same as shouting it in the middle of a busy street. In fact, I would argue that Facebook is much busier than your average busy street.
Good start!
that’s good
Stupid. I think that a threat could be forseen as carrying it out I think that IF there is an actual legitimate crime comitted they may use FB logs as proof or evidence, if its never carried out I consider it STUPID the court thinks a threats a threat. Some people use this to just ran.
Rant*
This is honestly a bit extreme, typical of Florida.
I agree with Corinne… Its too big.
How can you think that it is stupid or a bit extreme in the society that we live in now this is something that needs to be done on all fronts. Threats are nothing to take lightly.
yeah let’s not go about threatening people blocking them however is often a good plan
I don’t know. It seems a little strange. The idea has always been that you don’t arrest people for threatening to do harm. I suppose it would depend on the type of threat? It’s not that I don’t think something should be done to protect people from harassment. I definitely do. But we will need to be careful not to take it too far.
That posting was so terribly hateful. That person must be a pretty miserable individual.
As a Florida resident (lived near Tampa for 12 years) I salute my state. Personally, I take threats seriously. In my opinion, you do not wish harm on another human being. It is not acceptable in any situation whatsoever!
^^^I concur…
So was she or they to wait to be Murdered … Hell NO, I am glad the 3 judges took a stand and put his ass in prison… they should have got him on premeditated murder to as he tells how he will dispose & do Bodily Harm of the body or bodies … aka “bury your bitch ass. I’ll tear the concrete up with your face and drag you back to your doorstep.” … If he is still in prison that is where he should be…
So if we threatened to boycott chick fil a in florida can we die and be prosecuted? It’s freedom of speech. Tough.
Do I agree that these vicious statements are right?
No. But is there proof of premiditation? Some people get upset and lash out, IT happens.
We cant prosecute on WHAT IF’s. Theres NO scientific evidence other than the FB post. If someone joked and said honestly I wish I could slap a teacher…
Then you’d be tried too?
Freedom of speech and Freedom of expression. They OVERSTEPPED their own boundaries, plain and simple.
We argue about people “Thinking” of doing harm to others, if someone posted I think of ending my life sometimes, but I know thats just silly.. So thennn they take the post “Seriously” wastes COP time TAX payer money and ALL of it. Plain and simple DID it happen? If not No case, Id suggest a restraining order if it were that bad.
Oh my god… Nobody seems to know what the X button in the top-right corner is anymore…
but when gay bashing thugs threaten LGBT students that law that has been on the books i Florida for a few years is NEVER enforced
Aw crap! And with all the people I’ve threatened. Oh wait … I’ve left the States. I guess I can still go apeshit on some bitch that pisses me off on facebook LOL
Depends on the threats, of course, but if they’re serious enough, GOOD!
Maybe I should report a threat that was made a while ago. I don’t know if they can do anything because it happend a while ago but if they can then I will report it.
Up next: Thinking Threats!