By Danae Snell
SACRAMENTO — Although texting is one of the primary ways to stay in contact with one another during the pandemic, it’s important to be careful about the content of those texts—as defendant Keith Morris found out here in Sacramento County Superior Court last week.
Facing 32 months in a state prison facility after sending death threats via text, Morris was charged with Penal Code section 422 after he threatened “to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device” in September of 2020.
According to Deputy District Attorney Teal Ericson, “Specifically, on that day a romantic relationship consisting of numerous incidents of physical, mental and emotional abuse, he (the defendant) sent the victim multiple text messages threatening violence against her and her children.”
The text messages consisted of threatening statements, including: “This is why son is going to die” and “You watch how a freak accident can be so costly.” 
The defendant allegedly threatened the victim by also sending messages stating, “I am just waiting for school to start and you will see what I have planned,” and “Your son’s life is in your hands. I will be through there every night now to kick in the door.”
The victim said she immediately became fearful for not only her life, but her children’s as well.
Additionally, this is not the first time the defendant has entered the courtroom in handcuffs for a PC § 422 charge.
The DDA informed Judge Laurel White the defendant “was convicted of a prior strike and the details on that was a PC 422 conviction that occurred on September 10, 2014 in Contra Costa County bringing this case within the three strikes law. But we are only going forward with the one strike deal.”
After being advised by his counsel, Assistant Public Defender Dena Stone, defendant Morris accepted a plea deal offered from the district attorney’s office to avoid receiving his second felony strike.
According to the DDA, the resolution will be “a plea to Count 1 in the complaint that is a charge of PC 422 as a felony. He will also be admitting to a prior strike from September 10, 2014 and the sentence that we have agreed on is low term 16 months. Doubled due to the prior strike…32 months state prison.”
However, the defendant’s plea is on a conditional basis because Judge White has requested a pre-sentence investigation report (PSI) to gather additional information before granting the plea agreement entirely.
Danae Snell is a senior at Sacramento State majoring in Criminal Justice and is from Salinas, California.
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