Obstruction of Justice

• Author: Kassie Miller/Maya Shair/Shaun Rogers/Claire Fahlman
• Pages: 1157-1197

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1158

II. SECTION 1503 (THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE) AND SIMILAR STATUTES. . . . . . . 1159

A. Scope of § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160

B. Elements of a § 1503 Offense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1161

1. Pending Federal Judicial Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1162

2. Knowledge of Pending Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163

3. Corrupt Intent to Obstruct or Endeavor to Interfere . . . . . . 1163

C. Acts Prosecuted Under the Omnibus Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1166

1. Concealment, Alteration, or Destruction of Documents . . . 1167

2. Encouraging or Rendering False or Misleading Testimony 1168

D. Venue for Prosecution Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170

E. Defenses to § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171

F. Penalties Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172

G. United States Sentencing Guidelines: Obstruction of Justice . . 1173

H. Similar Statutes to the Omnibus Provision: Violations and

Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1174

1. Section 1505: The Agency Provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1174

2. Section 1510: Obstructing Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177

3. Section 1518: Obstruction of Criminal Investigations of

Health Care Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178

III. WITNESS TAMPERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179

A. Scope of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180

B. Elements of a § 1512(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1181

1. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1181

2. Engaged in Enumerated Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182

a. Intimidation, Physical Force, or Threats . . . . . . . . . . 1182

b. Misleading Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1183

c. Corrupt Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1183

3. Intent to Influence Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1184

4. Official Proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1184

C. Elements of a § 1513(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1185

1. Engaging in Enumerated Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186

2. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186

3. Government Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186

D. Other Acts Prosecuted Under § 1512 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186

E. Venue Under § 1512 and § 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1188

F. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1189

1. Affirmative Defenses Under § 1512(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1189

2. Constitutionality of Sections 1512 and 1513. . . . . . . . . . . 1189

1157

G. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191

IV. CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192

A. Section 1519: Destruction, Alteration or Falsification of

Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192

1. Scope of § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192

2. Elements of a § 1519 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194

a. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194

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

Make False Entry in a Record, Document, or Tangible

Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194

c. Intent to Impede, Obstruct, or Influence an

Investigation or Proper Administration of Any Matter 1195

B. Section 1520: Corporate Audit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1196

C. Defenses to § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1196

D. Penalties for § 1519 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197

V. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN OTHER CRIMES: U.S.S.G. MANUAL § 3C1.1 1197

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 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) (“[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”).

1158 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 59:1157

Because most provisions guarding against obstruction of justice address very

particular behaviors, this Article focuses on the sections given 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 obstruc-

tion 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 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. 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 in the context of court proceedings.

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

Additionally, most courts have also applied the Omnibus Clause to acts of obstruc-

tion that affect witnesses.

6

The other provisions discussed in Section II govern obstruction of justice in

other applicable contexts. Section 1505 addresses such conduct in the context of

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); accord

United States v. Garcia, 533 F. App’x 967, 984 (11th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. Brenson, 104 F.3d

1267, 1275 (11th Cir. 1997)) (“[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).

5. See 18 U.S.C. § 1503.

6. See United States v. LeMoure, 474 F.3d 37, 43 (1st Cir. 2007) (allowing 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) (finding that obstruction affecting witnesses is actionable under § 1503, even though Congress

removed all references to witnesses through the Victim and Witness Protection Act and enacted a new provision

that specifically addressed influencing witnesses, victims, and informants). The Second Circuit is the only circuit

to find that, in passing § 1512, Congress intended to remove witnesses from the protection of § 1503. 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). See generally Tina M.

Riley, Tampering with Witness Tampering: Resolving the Quandary Surrounding 18 U.S.C. §§ 1503, 1512, 77

WASH. U. L. Q. 249, 272–74 (1999) (observing that a majority of courts hold § 1503 applicable in witness

tampering prosecutions, but arguing that courts should hold § 1512 to be the exclusive authority for prosecuting

witness tampering); discussion infra Section III.A (outlining the scope of § 1512).

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