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”).

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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.

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