C.G.M., II, appeals the circuit court’s judgment finding that he was in need of the care and treatment of the Juvenile Court because he had committed an act, which if committed by an adult, would have constituted the class A misdemeanor of making a terroristic threat in violation of section 574.115.1(4), RSMo Cum.Supp.2007. C.G.M. asserts that insufficient evidence existed to establish that he made a threat to cause an incident involving danger to human life or that he acted with criminal negligence with regard to the risk of causing the evacuation of a building. Wе reverse the circuit court’s judgment.
C.G.M. was born on December 25, 1993, and was almost 13 years old at the time of the alleged incident. C.G.M. is a student at Jefferson C-123. In December 2006, C.G.M. told a classmate, A.R., in the school hallway that “he may get dynamite from his dad for his birthday” and asked A.R. if he “wаnted to help him blow up the school.” A.R. testified that he did not believe that C.G.M. would receive dynamite from his father for his birthday and that he did not believe that C.G.M. was going to blow up the school. Four or five months after C.G.M. asked him if he wanted to help him blow up the school, A.R. told а teacher about what C.G.M. said.
The teacher reported the incident to the school principal, Tim Jermain, on May 1, 2007. As a result of the incident, C.G.M. was suspended from school. Jermain said that, at the time that he heard of the alleged threat, he did not believе that an immediate danger existed to the school because the alleged threat was made around Christmas time. Jermain said that he did not consider closing, quarantining, or evacuating any portion of the school. Jermain also said that, if a student had reported the same information to him in December before Christmas, 1 he would not have evacuated the school at that time because the student would not have had dynamite in his possession until Christmas.
A juvenile officer interviewed C.G.M., and C.G.M. admitted making the alleged threat. On May 4, 2007, a juvenile officer for Nodaway County filed a petition with the circuit court seeking a determination that C.G.M. was in need of the care and treatment of the Juvenile Court. The juvenile officer, thereafter, filed a first amended petition on May 23, 2007, and a second amended petition on July 11, 2007. In the second amended petition the juvenile officer alleged:
Pursuant to Section 211.081.1(3) RSMo., said juvenile is in nеed of the care and treatment of this Court in that around Christmas, 2006, the juvenile committed acts which if committed by an adult would constitute the class D felony and/or the class A misdemeanor of making a terroristic threat in violation of Section 574.115, RSMo., in that the juvenile knowingly communicated to [A.R.] a threat to cause the destruction of his school by blowing up the school, an incident involving danger to life, including by stating or implying that he was going to blow up the school, that he was going to do so by the use of dynamite and/or he wanted [A.R.] to assist him in blowing uр the school and the juvenile did so with reckless disregard of the risk of causing the evacuation, quarantine or closure of any portion of the Jefferson C-123 School budding, an inhabitable structure, and/or the juvenile did so with criminal negligence with regard to the risk of causing the evacuation, quarantine or closure of any portion of the Jefferson C-123 School Building, an inhabitable structure.
On August 17, 2007, the circuit court held an adjudication hearing and a disposi-tional hearing. At the close of the adjudication hearing, the circuit court stated on the record that it found that the juvenile office had met its burden pursuant to section 574.115(4) and that the action was done with criminal negligence with regard to the risk of causing the evacuation, quarantine, or closure of the building. The circuit court then said:
I hаd a little bit in my mind, how silly is this? The more I listened to the evidence and looked at the statute, though, what this is causing is for each of us to be careful about what we speak and say.
A reasonable consequence of this action, at the time it was made it could have been that it could have been reported and if it was reported to the school, there was a good chance the building could be closed. That all falls through there. As far as the argument that it was preposterous that — as to not be believed on that, I might have swallowed that until it came to the point that we have young [A.R.], in May, is still praying [sic] on his mind enough that he goes up to talk to a teacher about that. Now I can’t get in his mind and say what he’s thinking or why he’s thinking this, but at least it stayed enough to get reported and looked into.
Gоne are the days of hanging around airport terminals and joking about bombs. Gone are the days that you think it’s funny somebody might have a bomb in their shoe. Our society has changed; that’s why the statutes were adopted. That is why the legislature put the varies [sic] levels. That’s why I’m going to find a violation.
On August 23, 2007, the circuit court issued its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and its Judgment of Disposition Regarding Delinquency/Status. In its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law the circuit court found the allegations to be
In his only point on appeal, C.G.M. assеrts that insufficient evidence existed to establish that he made a threat to cause an incident involving danger to human life or that he acted with criminal negligence with regard to the risk of causing the evacuation of a building. We agree.
“We review juvenile prоceedings in the same manner as other court-tried cases.”
In the Interest of C.L.B.,
An individual commits the crime of making a terroristic threat if:
[S]uch person communicates a threat to cause an incident or condition involving danger to life, communicates a knowingly false report of an incident or condition involving danger to life, or knowingly causes a false belief or fear that an incident has occurred or that a condition exists involving danger to life:
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(4) With criminal negligence with regard to the risk of causing the evacuation, quarantine or closure of any portion of a building, inhabitable structure, place of assembly or facility of transportation.
§ 574.115.1(4). Sectiоn 562.016.5, RSMo 2000, says that a person acts with criminal negligence “when he fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or a result will follow, and such failure constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation.” To be guilty of making a ter-roristic threat, the juvenile office, therefore, had to establish that C.G.M. communicated a threat to cause an incident involving danger to life and failed to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his statement would cause an evacuation or closure of the school.
The parties do not dispute that C.G.M. told A.R. that he
may receive
dynamite from his father for his birthday and that C.G.M. inquired of A.R. whether he wanted to help blow up the school. It is only the conclusion to be drawn from the facts that is disputed. Accordingly, the circuit court had an issue of law to resolve — whether, based on these facts, the law will regard C.G.M.’s statement as a communication of a threat to cause an incident involving danger to life.
See Hobbs v. Boy Scouts of Am., Inc.,
Moreover, the evidence did not establish that C.G.M.’s alleged threat would have cаused a substantial and unjustifiable risk of an evacuation or closure of the school. The school principal testified that he not only never considered ordering any type of evacuation or closure of the school when he learned of C.G.M.’s alleged threat in May 2007, he also stated that he would not have ordered the evacuation or closure of the school in December 2006 if a student had reported the same information to him in December before Christmas. Jermain said that the school would take steps to evacuate the school in response to a threat, “if [the school] felt like it was a specific threat, that there were specific details and the students were in immediate danger[.]” He said that if a student had no dynamite in his possession, hе would not have evacuated the building. Although actual evacuation or closure of the school is not required by section 574.115.1(4), the fact that the school principal opined that he would not have evacuated the school even if he had known оf such a statement in December is pertinent to the determination of whether a substantial and unjustifiable risk of evacuation existed. Given this evidence, we fail to see how a fact finder could determine beyond a reasonable doubt that a substantial and unjustifiаble risk of an evacuation or closure of the school existed or that C.G.Mfs lack of awareness of the risk constituted a gross deviation from reasonable care.
In so ruling, we want to caution C.G.M. that he came very close to crossing the
We, therefore, reverse the cirсuit court’s judgment and remand for the circuit court to release C.G.M. from the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court.
All concur.
Notes
. Although C.G.M. told his classmate that his dad was going to give' him dynamite for his birthday, C.G.M.’s birthday was on Christmas day.
. In
C.S.,
the student, who was 12 years old and in middle school, said multiple times in front of school offiсials that he was going to blow up the school. C.S.,
The fact that [the student] was angry and did not want to be placed in on-camрus
suspension indicates that he made the statement, not intending to actually do the act, but in order to scare the school officials who heard it and disrupt or interrupt their use of the school facilities, thereby frustrating their plan to immediately place him in on-campus suspension again.
Id.