Does section 140(a) of the California Civil Code of Civil Procedure apply to those threatening statements that a reasonable listener would understand to constitute a true threat?

"[T]o ensure the constitutionality of section 140(a), we construe it as applying only to those threatening statements that a reasonable listener would understand, in light of the context and surrounding circumstances, to constitute a true threat, namely, 'a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence' [citation], rather than an expression of jest or frustration. The latter category carries First Amendment protection; the former does not. [Citation.] So construed, section 140(a) does not violate the First Amendment." (People v. Lowery (2011) 52 Cal.4th 419, 427 (Lowery).)