Commonwealth v. Kline, 201 A.3d 1288

Victim testified that neighbor Jonathan Kline repeatedly stared at her and her children while on his property, causing her to feel on edge and on “heightened alert.”
On February 25, 2017, as the victim returned with her six-year-old daughter, she says Kline stepped toward her car and made a two-handed gun-firing gesture at them; the child was terrified.
The victim immediately went to the state police; trooper described her as distraught and appearing “terrorized.”
Kline testified he did not recall stalking the victim and said his finger-and-thumb gesture to a passing car was a casual greeting, not a threat.
A jury convicted Kline of one count of terroristic threats (18 Pa.C.S. § 2706); he was sentenced to 3–23 months’ imprisonment, fined, and paroled immediately. Kline appealed, claiming insufficient evidence that his nonverbal gesture conveyed intent to terrorize.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a nonverbal gun-firing gesture can constitute a "communication" of a threat under § 2706 and support a terroristic threats conviction	Commonwealth: Gesture combined with prior stalking-like conduct conveyed a threat and caused psychological distress	Kline: The gesture was a benign, conversational greeting; no words accompanied it and no intent to terrorize was shown	Court: Conviction affirmed — jury could find the gesture (with prior conduct) communicated a threat and showed intent to terrorize

Commonwealth v. Fenton, 750 A.2d 863 (Pa. Super. 2000) (ability or belief threat will be carried out not an essential element)
Commonwealth v. Jannett, 58 A.3d 818 (Pa. Super. 2012) (standard for sufficiency review and deference to factfinder)
Commonwealth v. Campbell, 625 A.2d 1215 (Pa. Super. 1993) (purpose of § 2706: punish threats intended to terrorize, not spur-of-the-moment anger)
Commonwealth v. Smith, 146 A.3d 257 (Pa. Super. 2016) (factfinder may believe all, part, or none of testimony)
In re B.R., 732 A.2d 633 (Pa. Super. 1999) (harm under § 2706 is psychological distress from invasion of personal security)
Commonwealth v. Kidd, 442 A.2d 826 (Pa. Super. 1982) (vacating terroristic threats where threats were drunken, spur-of-the-moment insults without intent to terrorize)
Commonwealth v. Robinson, 817 A.2d 1153 (Pa. Super. 2003) (intent is subjective; generally one intends normal consequences of one’s actions)
Commonwealth v. Walls, 144 A.3d 926 (Pa. Super. 2016) (distinguishing spur-of-the-moment threats from those punishable under § 2706)