OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1252
II. THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE AND SIMILAR STATUTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253
A. Scope of § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1254
B. Elements of a § 1503 Offense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1255
1. Pending Federal Judicial Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1256
2. Knowledge of Pending Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1257
3. Corrupt Intent to Obstruct or Endeavor to Interfere . . . . . . 1257
C. Acts Prosecuted Under the Omnibus Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260
1. Concealment, Alteration, or Destruction of Documents . . . 1261
2. Encouraging or Rendering False or Misleading Testimony 1263
D. Venue for Prosecution Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1264
E. Defenses to § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1265
F. Penalties Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1266
G. United States Sentencing Guidelines: Obstruction of Justice . . 1267
H. Similar Statutes to the Omnibus Provision: Violations and
Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1269
1. Section 1505: The Agency Provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1269
2. Section 1510: Obstructing Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1271
3. Section 1518: Obstruction of Criminal Investigations of
Health Care Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1273
III. WITNESS TAMPERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1273
A. Scope of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1274
B. Elements of a § 1512(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1275
1. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1276
2. Engaged in Enumerated Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1276
a. Intimidation, Physical Force, or Threats . . . . . . . . . . 1277
b. Misleading Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1277
c. Corrupt Persuasion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278
3. Intent to Influence Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1279
4. Official Proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1279
C. Elements of a § 1513(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
1. Engaging in Enumerated Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
2. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
3. Government Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1281
D. Other Acts Prosecuted Under § 1512 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1281
E. Venue Under § 1512 and § 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1282
F. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1283
1. Affirmative Defenses Under § 1512(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1283
2. Constitutionality of Sections 1512 and 1513. . . . . . . . . . . 1283
1251
G. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1285
IV. CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286
A. Section 1519: Destruction, Alteration or Falsification of
Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286
1. Scope of § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286
2. Elements of a § 1519 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288
a. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288
b. Alter, Destroy, Mutilate, Conceal, Cover up, Falsify, or
Make False Entry in a Record, Document, or Tangible
Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289
c. Intent to Impede, Obstruct, or Influence an
Investigation or Proper Administration of Any Matter 1289
B. Section 1520: Corporate Audit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1290
C. Defenses to § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1291
D. Penalties for § 1519 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1291
V. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN OTHER CRIMES: U.S.S.G. MANUAL § 3C1.1 1291
I. INTRODUCTION
Obstruction of justice is any “interference with the orderly administration of law
and justice.”
1
This area of federal law is governed by 18 U.S.C. §§ 1501–1521,
which protect the integrity of proceedings before the federal judiciary and other
governmental bodies.
2
Because most provisions guarding against obstruction of
justice address very particular behaviors, this Article focuses on the sections given
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) (“[Obstruction of justice] must include as elements both (1) the actus reus of 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) the mens rea of a ‘specific intent to interfere with the process
of justice.’”); United States v. Ashqar, 582 F.3d 819, 823 (7th Cir. 2009) (holding that obstruction of justice
involves acts “done corruptly . . . with the purpose of wrongfully impeding the due administration of justice”).
2. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1501 (proscribing the act of “assault on process server”); 1502 (proscribing the act of
“resistance to extradition agent”); 1503 (proscribing the act of “influencing or injuring officer or juror
generally”); 1504 (proscribing the act of “influencing juror by writing”); 1505 (proscribing the act of
“obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees”); 1506 (proscribing the act of “theft
or alteration of record or process”); 1507 (proscribing the act of “picketing or parading”); 1508 (proscribing the
act of “recording, listening to, or observing deliberations of grand or petit juries while deliberating or voting”);
1509 (proscribing the act of “obstruction of court orders”); 1510 (proscribing the act of “obstruction of criminal
investigations”); 1511 (proscribing the act of “obstruction of State or local law enforcement”); 1512 (proscribing
the act of “tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant”); 1513 (proscribing the act of “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 (proscribing the act of “obstruction of a federal audit”); 1517 (proscribing the act of
“obstructing examination of a financial institution”); 1518 (proscribing the act of “obstruction of criminal
investigations of health care offenses”); 1519 (proscribing the act of “destruction, alteration, or falsification of
records in federal investigations and bankruptcy”); 1520 (proscribing the act of “destruction of corporate audit
records”); 1521 (proscribing the act of “retaliating against a federal judge or federal law enforcement officer by
false claim or slander of title”).
1252 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 58:1251
the most expansive treatment by courts: Sections 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 investiga-
tions; and § 1518, which specifically addresses obstruction in the health care con-
text. Section III examines prohibitions against witness tampering under §§ 1512
and 1513. Section IV discusses corporate accountability under §§ 1519 and 1520.
Section V analyzes how obstruction of justice can affect penalties for other crimes.
II. 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
“ensure that criminals [cannot] circumvent the law’s purpose by devising novel
and creative 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
The other provisions discussed in this Section address the scope of these protec-
tions. Similar to § 1503, § 1505 addresses such conduct in the context of federal
agency proceedings rather than court proceedings.
6
Section 1510 extends the pro-
tections afforded by §§ 1503 and 1505 to potential witnesses.
7
Finally, § 1518
addresses obstruction in the specific case of health care fraud.
8
Additionally, most
3. See United States v. Aguilar, 515 U.S. 593, 598 (1995) (“[T]he ‘Omnibus Clause’ serves as a catchall,
prohibiting persons from endeavoring to influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice.”).
4. United States v. Tackett, 113 F.3d 603, 607 (6th Cir. 1997) (ruling against defendant parents charged with
obstruction of justice for falsifying records and influencing a witness in an arson case against their son); see also
United States v. Garcia, 533 F. App’x 967, 984 (11th Cir. 2013) (“[T]he omnibus clause i[s] broad enough to
cover any act committed corruptly, in an endeavor to impede or obstruct justice.” (second alteration in original)
(quoting United States v. Brenson, 104 F.3d 1267, 1275 (11th Cir. 1997))).
5. See 18 U.S.C. § 1503.
6. See id. § 1505 (“Whoever corruptly . . . endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper
administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of
the United States, or . . . proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being
had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress . . . [s]hall be fined
[or imprisoned].”).
7. Id. § 1510(a); see also United States v. San Martin, 515 F.2d 317, 320 (5th Cir. 1975) (describing the
purpose of § 1510 as “[deterrence of] 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) (stating that “[t]he legislative history of § 1510 discloses that its purpose was to extend the protection
of the preceding §§ 1503 and 1505 afforded witnesses, jurors and others in judicial, administrative and
congressional proceedings to ‘potential informants or witnesses’ and to those who communicate information to
Federal investigators prior to a case reaching the court” (citation omitted)); H.R. REP. NO. 90-658 (1967),
reprinted in 1967 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1762 (describing the reasons for extending the protection of the obstruction of
justice laws to potential informants or witnesses).
8. See 18 U.S.C. § 1518.
2021] OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE 1253
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