OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914
II. SECTION 1503 (THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE) AND SIMILAR STATUTES . . . 915
A. Scope of § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
B. Elements of a § 1503 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
1. Pending Federal Judicial Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917
2. Knowledge of Pending Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917
3. Corrupt Intent to Obstruct or Endeavor to Interfere . . . . . 918
C. Acts Prosecuted Under the Omnibus Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919
1. Concealment, Alteration, or Destruction of Documents . . 920
2. Encouraging or Rendering False or Misleading Testimony . . . 921
D. Venue for Prosecution Under § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
E. Defenses to § 1503 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
F. Penalties Under § 1503. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
G. United States Sentencing Guidelines: Obstruction of Justice . . 924
H. Similar Statutes to the Omnibus Provision: Violations and
Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
1. Section 1505: The Agency Provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
2. Section 1510: Obstructing Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
3. Section 1518: Obstruction of Criminal Investigations of
Health Care Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
III. WITNESS TAMPERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
A. Scope of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930
B. Elements of a § 1512(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931
1. Knowingly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931
2. Engaged in Enumerated Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
a. Intimidation, Physical Force, or Threats . . . . . . . . . . 932
b. Misleading Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933
c. Corrupt Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933
3. Intent to Influence Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934
4. Official Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934
C. Elements of a § 1513(b) Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
1. Engaging in Enumerated Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
2. Knowingly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
3. Government Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
D. Other Acts Prosecuted Under § 1512 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
E. Venue Under §§ 1512 and 1513. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937
F. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937
1. Affirmative Defenses Under § 1512(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937
2. Constitutionality of §§ 1512 and 1513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938
913
G. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939
IV. CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939
A. Section 1519: Destruction, Alteration or Falsification of
Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
1. Scope of § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
2. Elements of a § 1519 Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
a. Knowingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 942
b. Alter, Destroy, Mutilate, Conceal, Cover up, Falsify,
or Make False Entry in a Record, Document, or
Tangible Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 942
c. Intent to Impede, Obstruct, or Influence an Investigation
or Proper Administration of Any Matter . . . . . . . . . . 942
B. Section 1520: Corporate Audit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943
C. Defenses to § 1519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943
D. Penalties for § 1519 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944
V. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN OTHER CRIMES: U.S.S.G. MANUAL §
3C1.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944
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 fed-
eral 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 the most attention
by courts: §§ 1503, 1505, 1510, 1512, 1513, 1518, 1519, and 1520. Section II of
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”).
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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 obstruc-
tion specifically in the health care context. Section III examines prohibitions against
witness tampering under §§ 1512 and 1513. Section IV discusses corporate account-
ability 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 prevent
criminals from “circumvent[ing] 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 pro-
tects 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
This Section discusses §§ 1503, 1505, 1510, and 1518 in eight parts: (A) the
scope of § 1503; (B) the elements of § 1503 offenses; (C) the acts criminalized
under § 1503; (D) issues related to venue; (E) various defenses to § 1503 charges;
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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