A Bay Area man goes on trial this week for allegedly emailing a federal court that he wanted to “visualize skinning” a sitting judge to death, testing where free speech ends and criminal threats begin.
David Brooks Pokorny, 45, of El Cerrito, California, faces up to ten years in prison for what prosecutors say was a barrage of emails sent to the federal court’s media system on September 2, 2025. The messages escalated from declaring “This is terrorism” to explicit threats against U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer and other government officials.
Nearly a Dozen Messages in Minutes
According to prosecutors, Pokorny sent almost a dozen emails over the course of minutes, each more violent than the last. One message contained a single sentence: “I want you to visualize skinning U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to death.”
Other emails claimed a legal right to violence. “We have a legal right to use terrorism to control California courts & judges,” Pokorny allegedly wrote. Another message stated: “It is legal to take & kill hostages in order to get the illegitimate California courts & judges to cease their operations and dissolve their courts.”
What Makes a True Threat?
Twelve jurors selected Monday at the United States Courthouse in Oakland will decide whether Pokorny’s emails constitute a “true threat” under federal law—a legal standard that distinguishes protected speech from criminal conduct. The question isn’t whether the words are offensive or disturbing, but whether a reasonable person would interpret them as expressing serious intent to harm.
Pokorny is charged with felony threats against a judicial officer, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of a decade behind bars. The case turns on whether his emails crossed the constitutional line from protected political rage into actionable threat.
Judge Breyer, the alleged target, has served on the federal bench since 1997 and is the brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. No physical harm occurred, but federal law doesn’t require action—only the threat itself.
The trial is expected to conclude within days, with the jury weighing whether Pokorny’s words were rhetorical fury or genuine menace to a sitting federal judge.
Key Points
- David Pokorny, 45, allegedly sent nearly a dozen threatening emails in minutes to federal court
- Messages escalated from claiming “legal right” to terrorism to graphic threat against Judge Charles Breyer
- Case tests where First Amendment protection ends and true threat prosecution begins
https://www.courthousenews.com/jury-set-for-trial-of-man-who-threatened-to-skin-federal-judge/ – November 02, 2026
