City of Redmond v. Burkhart

Steven Burkhart telephoned his wife and, after conversing a short while, became angry and threatened to kill her. The telephone harassment statute under which he was charged prohibits making a telephone call threatening injury with the intent to intimidate. This case presents a unique question—does “make” in the context of making a telephone call encompass all stages of the call until the call is terminated or does it describe only the initiation of the call? Based upon the statutory construction as well as the ordinary meaning of “make,” we hold that “make,” as used in RCW 9.61.230, refers…