Obstruction of justice

• Pages: 897-930
• Date: 01 July 2025
• Published date: 01 July 2025
• Author: Alicia Barry,Kelsey Handschu,Annette Hasnas,Leah Locascio
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898

II. SECTION 1503 (THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE) AND SIMILAR STATUTES . . . . 899

A. Scope of § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900

B. Elements of a § 1503 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900

1. Pending Federal Judicial Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901

2. Knowledge of Pending Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901

3. Corrupt Intent to Obstruct or Endeavor to Interfere . . . . . 902

C. Acts Prosecuted Under the Omnibus Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903

1. Concealment, Alteration, or Destruction of Documents . . 904

2. Encouraging or Rendering False or Misleading Testimony 905

D. Venue for Prosecution Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906

E. Defenses to § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907

F. Penalties Under § 1503. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908

G. United States Sentencing Guidelines: Obstruction of Justice . . 908

H. Similar Statutes to the Omnibus Provision: Violations and

Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909

1. Section 1505: The Agency Provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909

2. Section 1510: Obstructing Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911

3. Section 1518: Obstruction of Criminal Investigations of

Health Care Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914

III. WITNESS TAMPERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914

A. Scope of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915

B. Elements of a § 1512(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916

1. Knowingly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917

2. Engaged in Enumerated Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917

a. Intimidation, Physical Force, or Threats . . . . . . . . . . 918

b. Misleading Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918

c. Corrupt Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918

3. Intent to Inf‌luence Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919

4. Off‌icial Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919

5. Intent to Impede Communications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920

6. “Reasonable Likelihood” Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920

C. Elements of a § 1513(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920

1. Engaging in Enumerated Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920

2. Knowingly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921

3. Government Off‌icials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921

D. Other Acts Prosecuted Under § 1512 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921

E. Venue Under §§ 1512 and 1513. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922

F. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

897

1. Aff‌irmative Defenses Under § 1512(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

2. Constitutionality of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

G. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924

IV. CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925

A. Section 1519: Destruction, Alteration or Falsif‌ication of

Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925

1. Scope of § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925

2. Elements of a § 1519 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927

a. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927

b. Alter, Destroy, Mutilate, Conceal, Cover up, Falsify,

or Make False Entry in a Record, Document, or

Tangible Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927

c. Intent to Impede, Obstruct, or Inf‌luence an

Investigation or Proper Administration of Any Matter 928

B. Defenses to § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929

C. Section 1520: Corporate Audit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929

D. Penalties for § 1519 and § 1520 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929

V. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN OTHER CRIMES: U.S.S.G. M ANUAL § 3C1.1 . . 930

I. INTRODUCTION

Obstruction of justice is any act that involves “interference with the orderly

administration of law and justice.”

1

Such conduct is prohibited by 18 U.S.C.

§§ 1501 through 1521, which collectively protect the integrity of proceedings

before the federal judiciary and other governmental bodies.

2

1. Obstruction of Justice, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (11th ed. 2019); see also, e.g., Higgins v. Holder, 677

F.3d 97, 102 (2d Cir. 2012) (including as elements (1) an active interference with proceedings of a tribunal or

investigation, or action or threat of action against those who would cooperate in the process of justice, and (2)

specif‌ic intent to interfere with the process of justice); United States v. Ashqar, 582 F.3d 819, 823 (7th Cir. 2009)

(holding obstruction of justice involves acts “done corruptly .. . with the purpose of wrongfully impeding the due

administration of justice”).

2. These provisions proscribe a wide variety of acts. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1501 (“assault on process server”);

1502 (“resistance to extradition agent”); 1503 (“inf‌luencing or injuring off‌icer or juror generally”); 1504

(“inf‌luencing juror by writing”); 1505 (“obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and

committees”); 1506 (“theft or alteration of record or process”); 1507 (“picketing or parading”); 1508 (“recording,

listening to, or observing deliberations of grand or petit juries while deliberating or voting”); 1509 (“obstruction

of court orders”); 1510 (“obstruction of criminal investigations”); 1511 (“obstruction of State or local law

enforcement”); 1512 (“tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant”); 1513 (“retaliating against a witness,

victim, or an informant”); 1514 (creating a “civil action to restrain harassment of a victim or witness”); 1514A

(creating a “civil action to protect against retaliation in fraud cases”); 1515 (setting out “def‌initions for certain

provisions”); 1516 (“obstruction of a federal audit”); 1517 (“obstructing examination of a f‌inancial institution”);

1518 (“obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses”); 1519 (“destruction, alteration, or

falsif‌ication of records in federal investigations and bankruptcy”); 1520 (“destruction of corporate audit

records”); 1521 (“retaliating against a federal judge or federal law enforcement off‌icer by false claim or slander

of title”).

898 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 62:897

Because most provisions guarding against obstruction of justice address very

particular behaviors, this Article focuses on the sections given the most attention

by courts: §§ 1503, 1505, 1510, 1512, 1513, 1518, 1519, and 1520. Section II of

this Article reviews § 1503, which governs obstruction of justice affecting jurors,

off‌icers of the court, and judges; § 1505, which governs obstruction of justice in

proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees; § 1510, which governs

obstruction of federal criminal investigations; and § 1518, which addresses

obstruction specif‌ically in the health care context. Section III examines prohibi-

tions against witness tampering under §§ 1512 and 1513. Section IV discusses cor-

porate accountability under §§ 1519 and 1520. Section V analyzes how obstruction

of justice can affect penalties for other crimes.

II. SECTION 1503 (THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE) AND SIMILAR STATUTES

Section 1503 is known as the Omnibus Clause, or the “catch-all provision,”

because it applies to a broad range of conduct.

3

The Omnibus Clause seeks to pre-

vent criminals from “circumvent[ing] the law’s purpose by devising novel and cre-

ative schemes that would interfere with the administration of justice but would

nonetheless fall outside the scope of § 1503’s specif‌ic prohibitions.”

4

The

Omnibus Clause protects jurors and judicial off‌icers from threats, intimidation,

any efforts to impede work, and retaliation.

5

Additionally, most courts apply the

Omnibus Clause to acts of obstruction that affect witnesses.

6

Section 1505 addresses such conduct in federal agency proceedings.

7

Section 1510

extends the protections afforded by §§ 1503 and 1505 to potential witnesses.

8

Lastly,

§ 1518 addresses obstruction in cases of healthcare fraud.

9

3. See United States v. Aguilar, 515 U.S. 593, 598 (1995).

4. United States v. Tackett, 113 F.3d 603, 607 (6th Cir. 1997); accord United States v. Garcia, 533 F. App’x

967, 984 (11th Cir. 2013); United States v. Griff‌in, 589 F.2d 200, 206–07 (5th Cir. 1979) (noting the obstruction

of justice statute reaches corrupt conduct, “limited only by the imagination of the criminally inclined”).

5. See 18 U.S.C. § 1503.

6. See United States v. LeMoure, 474 F.3d 37, 43 (1st Cir. 2007) (allowing separate prosecutions for witness

tampering under §§ 1503 and 1512 because they have different elements); United States v. Ladum, 141 F.3d

1328, 1337–38 (9th Cir. 1998) (similar). The Second Circuit is the only circuit to f‌ind that, in passing § 1512,

Congress removed witness tampering from § 1503’s scope. See, e.g., United States v. Bruno, 383 F.3d 65, 87 (2d

Cir. 2004) (acknowledging that every federal court to consider this issue has rejected the Second Circuit’s

conclusion); United States v. Masterpol, 940 F.2d 760, 762 (2d Cir. 1991) (construing the amendment to § 1512

as evidence of Congress’s intent to remove witnesses from the protection of § 1503), abrogated on other

grounds, Hubbard v. United States, 514 U.S. 695 (1995). But see United States v. Sampson, 898 F.3d 287, 303

(2d Cir. 2018) (limiting Masterpol to its facts). See generally discussion infra Section III.A (outlining the scope

of § 1512).

7. 18 U.S.C. § 1505.

8. Id. § 1510(a); see also United States v. San Martin, 515 F.2d 317, 320 (5th Cir. 1975) (stating § 1510’s

purpose is “to deter the coercion of potential witnesses by the subjects of federal criminal investigations prior to

the initiation of judicial proceedings”); United States v. Kozak, 438 F.2d 1062, 1065 (3d Cir. 1971) (f‌inding §

1510’s purpose is to apply §§ 1503 and 1505 protections to “those who communicate information to Federal

investigators” before a case reaches the court).

9. See 18 U.S.C. § 1518.

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