Employee Harrassment

Q: And I have a long list of incidences where workers were threatened with injury and death, Greg, and some of them originate from this newsgroup. Did you know that in most states it is a felony to threaten a government employee?

A: SWEENEY, A.C.J.--A conditional threat is still a threat for purposes of criminal harassment. State v. Edwards, 84 Wn. App. 5, 12, 924 P.2d 397 (1996). Katherine Hoy threatened a Child Protective Services investigator. The investigator feared that Ms. Hoy would carry out the threat. The evidence then supports her conviction for criminal harassment. RCW 9A.46.020(1). We therefore affirm. FACTS Ginger Mastor is an investigator for Child Protective Services (CPS). She had a telephone conversation with Ms. Hoy on February 27, 2002. Ms. Mastor knew Ms. Hoy from a contact the previous week. She and another CPS worker tried to visit Ms. Hoy's son. He lived next door. They went to the son's residence to talk about Ms. Hoy's grandson. But nobody answered the door. Ms. Hoy came

out of her house and introduced herself. Later Ms. Hoy left a message for Ms. Mastor's vacationing coworker. Ms. Mastor returned the call to Ms. Hoy. Ms. Mastor broadcast by speakerphone the tirade that followed. Ms. Hoy told Ms. Mastor that 'if she saw me in a bar or somewhere after hours, that she would be the last thing I ever saw.' Report of Proceedings (RP) at 15. And that 'the last thing I saw, would ever see would be her walking away from me.' Id. A number of Ms. Mastor's coworkers gathered round and heard the gist of the threat. Her coworkers thought the threat was serious. Ms. Mastor told Ms. Hoy that it was a crime to threaten a state employee.