Court throws out conviction of man who 'threatened' O'Malley

By: Alan Suderman
Washington Examiner
Mar. 03, 2010

A Maryland appeals court has thrown out the conviction of a man who threatened to wrap his hands around Gov. Martin O'Malley and "strangle the life" out of him.

The Court of Special Appeals overturned the conviction of Walter Carl Abbott Jr., because the judge at his original trial didn't properly explain to the jury the difference between a real threat and constitutionally protected speech, the court ruled.

In a 2008 e-mail to O'Malley, Abbott complained of financial and marital problems that he blamed on the governor.

"If i ever get close enough to yoy, I will rap my hands around your throat and strangle the life from you," Abbott wrote to the governor, adding: "That will solve many problems for true AMERICAN'S."

When five state police officers showed up at Abbott's Parkville home in Baltimore County hours after he sent the e-mail, Abbott explained that he was upset over the state's policies toward illegal immigrants but meant no physical harm to the governor, court records show.

"He was just frustrated with the governor's policy on immigration [and] really thought he would get the governor's attention," said Abbott's attorney, Arthur Frank.

Frank said Abbott's screed never constituted a real threat to the governor and was "political hyperbole protected by one's inherent right to free and unfettered political expression."

Frank noted that there is no proof that O'Malley, who did not appear at the original trial, ever read or heard of Abbott's e-mail.

The state argued that Abbott's e-mail "was unequivocal in its threat to harm the governor."

Abbott originally was found guilty of threatening to injure a state official in 2008. He received a six-month suspended sentence and was ordered to pay a $500 fine. The court also gave him two years of probation and ordered him to stay 500 feet away from O'Malley and his wife.

Frank said he expects the legal showdown to continue. The attorney general's office is weighing whether to appeal the Court of Special Appeals' decision to the Court of Appeals, according to a spokeswoman.