Criminal threats under Penal Code section 422 is a wobbler and a strike. Here are the six elements the prosecutor must prove, the defenses that actually work, and what a conviction means for firearms, immigration, and custody.

A practical guide to domestic violence charges in Orange County: the arrest, the emergency protective order, arraignment at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, the criminal protective order, batterer's program terms, firearm and custody consequences, and the defenses that actually work.