Law enforcement is reactive. To get arrested before committing a crime is almost unheard of. There are special stalker statutes, but that’s the exception. Remember the movie The Minority Report? If I recall, that was about a police unit that arrested murderers before they committed murder. Do we want that? We do have something in Florida called The Baker Act. Any official can arrest you if they judge you are a threat to yourself or others. But then the state has to take care of you; which is expensive. So it’s not often used. You have to really be nutso to get Baker Acted. Incarceration usually lasts 2 weeks. Two weeks would not have deterred this assailant.
Even if the doctor had a signed “I’m-gonna-kill-you” note, chances are they would have done nothing.
Maybe not, but this isn’t the government peering into a crystal ball. This is a kid going to a mental health PROFESSIONAL and I emphasize that word saying that he is having delusions and homicidal thoughts. She should have asked him to have himself voluntarily committed right there on the spot, and if he didn’t agree set in motion a way to have him involuntarily committed. Geesh. What’s was James Holmes’alternative? Go home and flip through the yellow pages to try to find a hospital that would admit him? If he had gone into a campus clinic and said he needed to have an abortion they would have helped him right away and followed up I’m sure.
Definition of Class 5 Felony MenacingElements
In Colorado, menacing is defined as any person using a threat or physical action to knowingly place, or attempt to place, someone else in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Menacing can be charged as either a Class 3 misdemeanor or a Class 5 felony depending on whether certain circumstances are present.
Felony Menacing
In addition to the act and intent required for menacing, Colorado law requires felony menacing include an added element. A person commits felony menacing when he uses a deadly weapon to commit the crime of menacing. For example, threatening to attack someone with your fists can result in a charge of misdemeanor menacing, but if you threaten to attack someone with a knife, you can be charged with a felony.
Deadly Weapon
The weapon or article need not be inherently deadly or able to cause death. The Colorado statute requires only that the item is used or presented in such a way as to cause a person to reasonably believe the weapon is deadly. For example, a person can commit felony menacing by use of a toy gun if the gun looks real enough to reasonably be confused with a real gun.
Threats
Colorado does not require a defendant to actually be in possession of a weapon. It is enough to threaten physical harm and intimate the possession of deadly weapon. So, threatening to stab someone with a knife you claim to have can be charged as felony menacing, even if no such knife exists.
Penalties
A Class 5 felony in Colorado brings with it the threat of fines and incarceration. The maximum sentence allowable is three years' incarceration in a state prison and up to $100,000 in fines. However, anyone convicted of such a crime must serve at least a year in prison and pay a minimum $1,000 fine.