The term credible threat means a threat that is “ real and immediate, not conjectural or hypothetical.” Kegler v. United States DOJ, 436 F. Supp. 2d 1204, 1212 (D. Wyo. 2006)
Different states have different standards of what this means of course, but if you were to sum up the laws regarding death threats from all states into one, it is taught, three conditions must be met.
To be considered a credible death threat, someone threatening you must have the
·intent;
·capability;
·and opportunity to carry it out. If any of the three conditions are absent, a court might consider the threat non-credible.
So even if Steven Seagal tells you he's going to break your neck with his bare hands, which he certainly can do, it still wouldn't be a credible threat if he's a thousand miles away. When you were in the Russian guy's truck, maybe the threat might be credible. If he's in another state right now, probably not, unless he's talking about sending someone else to rub you out.
