State v. Mills

The State charged Morning Mills with felony harassment. The crime of misdemeanor harassment is elevated to a felony when a jury finds the defendant threatened to kill his or her victim. In this case, the to-convict instruction contained all the elements of harassment, as defined by statute. A special verdict instruction and accompanying form were used to instruct the jury to decide, beyond a reasonable doubt, whether or not Mills threatened to kill her victim. After the jury found her guilty *108of harassment, it also found that she had threatened to kill the victim. She was therefore convicted…