Also known as: obstruct justice · obstructing justice · obstructed justice · obstructing the administration of justice
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A criminal offense consisting of interference with the orderly administration of law and justice. Conduct such as giving false information to authorities, destroying evidence, or intimidating a witness or juror supports liability.
Ophelia O'Brien met privately with her clerk and offered a promotion if the clerk would misplace developer files before an enforcement hearing. The clerk reported the conversation instead of acting. Prosecutors charged Ophelia with common-law solicitation to obstruct justice based on the inducement and specific intent shown in the meeting.
Olga O'Neill testified at trial and later admitted she had lied about key facts. The judge found the false testimony constituted obstruction of justice. The finding increased her offense level under the guidelines even though the jury had already convicted her on the underlying charges.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Odin Obeng was convicted after a jury trial. At sentencing the judge determined that Obeng had destroyed documents during the investigation and added an obstruction enhancement. The additional fact raised the sentence above the range supported by the jury verdict alone.
Oriana Oberman directed employees at Odyssey Logistics to shred audit files after learning of a possible SEC inquiry. The firm followed its retention policy but acted with knowledge that investigators would soon seek the records. Prosecutors later charged the firm with obstruction of justice for the willful destruction.
Oliver Okeke gave investigators a fabricated timeline of events during a regulatory probe into his company. He knew the statements would divert attention from the true records. Prosecutors charged him with obstruction of justice based on the deliberate falsehoods.
Opal Okoro and colleagues altered trading logs to hide irregular transactions while an agency investigation was underway. The alterations were made to prevent discovery of the underlying violations. Prosecutors included an obstruction count based on the evidence tampering.
No. The solicitor's culpability is measured by the circumstances as the solicitor believed them to be. Even if the solicited act could not actually succeed, the offense is complete upon the solicitation with specific intent.
Under pre-Booker practice a judge could find obstruction by a preponderance of the evidence and increase the guideline range. After Booker the Sixth Amendment requires that any fact increasing the statutory maximum be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
No. When documents are destroyed with the purpose of impeding a foreseeable investigation, the destruction can constitute obstruction even if the policy itself is facially valid.
Perjury, destruction of evidence, providing false information to a probation officer, and encouraging others to avoid a subpoena are examples of conduct that can support the enhancement.
Supporting sources
…an indictment charging seven named individuals with various offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice. Although not designated in the indictment, the grand jury named the President among others as an unindicted co-conspirator. On April 18, 1974, upon motion of the Special Prosecutor, a…