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Ind. Code § 35-45-2-1

Intimidation

Applied in 86 court decisions — leading case Fointno v. State (1986)

Most recently applied in United States v. Michael Davis (October 2024)

As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.5

How often courts cite this section

19861990200020102020202480
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Sec. 1. (a) A person who communicates a threat with the intent:

(1) that another person engage in conduct against the other person's will;

(2) that another person be placed in fear of retaliation for a prior lawful act;

(3) of:

(A) causing:

(i) a dwelling, a building, or other structure; or

(ii) a vehicle;

to be evacuated; or

(B) interfering with the occupancy of:

(i) a dwelling, building, or other structure; or

(ii) a vehicle; or

(4) that another person be placed in fear that the threat will be carried out, if the threat is a threat described in:

(A) subsection (c)(1) through (c)(5); or

(B) subsection (c)(7) through (c)(8);

commits intimidation, a Class A misdemeanor.

(b) However, the offense is a:

(1) Level 6 felony if:

(A) the threat is to commit a forcible felony;

(B) the subject of the threat or the person to whom the threat is communicated is a witness (or the spouse or child of a witness) in any pending criminal proceeding against the person making the threat;

(C) the threat is communicated because of the occupation, profession, employment status, or ownership status of a person or the threat relates to or is made in connection with the occupation, profession, employment status, or ownership status of a person;

(D) the person has a prior unrelated conviction for an offense under this section concerning the same victim; or

(E) the threat is communicated using property, including electronic equipment or systems, of a school corporation or other governmental entity; and

(2) Level 5 felony if:

(A) while committing it, the person draws or uses a deadly weapon;

(B) the subject of the threat or the person to whom the threat is communicated:

(i) is a judicial officer or bailiff of any court; or

(ii) is a prosecuting attorney or a deputy prosecuting attorney;

and the threat relates to the person's status as a judicial officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, or deputy prosecuting attorney, or is made in connection with the official duties of the judicial officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, or deputy prosecuting attorney; or

(C) the threat is:

(i) to commit terrorism; or

(ii) made in furtherance of an act of terrorism.

(c) "Threat" means an expression, by words or action, of an intention to:

(1) unlawfully injure the person threatened or another person, or damage property;

(2) unlawfully subject a person to physical confinement or restraint;

(3) commit a crime;

(4) unlawfully withhold official action, or cause such withholding;

(5) unlawfully withhold testimony or information with respect to another person's legal claim or defense, except for a reasonable claim for witness fees or expenses;

(6) expose the person threatened to hatred, contempt, disgrace, or ridicule;

(7) falsely harm the credit or business reputation of a person; or

(8) cause the evacuation of a dwelling, a building, another structure, or a vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision, the term includes an expression that would cause a reasonable person to consider the evacuation of a dwelling, a building, another structure, or a vehicle, even if the dwelling, building, structure, or vehicle is not evacuated.

Official source: Indiana General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Indiana statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.