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   Obstruction of justice   
   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   
   The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to   
   the crime of obstructing prosecutors or other (usually government) officials.   
   Common law jurisdictions other than the United States tend to use the wider   
   offense of perverting    
   the course of justice.   
      
   Contents   
      
    [hide]    
   1	Legal overview   
   2	Notable examples   
   3	Obstruction trends   
   4	See also   
   5	Footnotes   
   6	External links   
   Legal overview   
      
   Generally, obstruction charges are laid when it is discovered that a person   
   questioned in an investigation, other than a suspect, has lied to the   
   investigating officers. However, in most common law jurisdictions, the right   
   to remain silent used to allow    
   any person questioned by police merely to deny answering questions posed by an   
   investigator without giving any reason for doing so. (In such a case, the   
   investigators may subpoena the witness to give testimony under oath in court,   
   though the witness may    
   then exercise their rights, for example in the Fifth Amendment, if they   
   believe their answer may serve to incriminate themselves.) If the person tried   
   to protect a suspect (such as by providing a false alibi, even if the suspect   
   is in fact innocent) or    
   to hide from investigation of their own activities (such as to hide their   
   involvement in another crime), this may leave them liable to prosecution.   
   Obstruction charges can also be laid if a person alters, destroys, or conceals   
   physical evidence, even if    
   he was under no compulsion at any time to produce such evidence. Often, no   
   actual investigation or substantiated suspicion of a specific incident need   
   exist to support a charge of obstruction of justice.   
      
   Obstruction can include crimes committed by judges, prosecutors, attorneys   
   general, and elected officials in general. It is misfeasance, malfeasance or   
   nonfeasance in the conduct of the office. Most commonly it is prosecuted as a   
   crime for perjury by a    
   non governmental official primarily because of prosecutorial discretion.   
      
   Notable examples   
      
   President Richard Nixon was investigated for obstruction of justice for his   
   alleged role in the cover-up of the break-in at the Watergate hotel during his   
   1972 re-election campaign. Although it is unknown whether Nixon had   
   foreknowledge of his re-   
   election committee's "dirty tricks" campaign against Democratic presidential   
   candidates that led to the break-in, he was aware of it after the fact and   
   paid money to keep the participants quiet.   
   Former Vice-Presidential adviser I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of   
   obstruction of justice in March 2007 for his role in the investigation of a   
   leak to reporters that named a CIA agent, Valerie Plame. His prison sentence   
   was commuted by President    
   George W. Bush in July 2007, so that Libby was no longer required to serve a   
   two and a half year prison sentence, but still required to pay a $250,000   
   fine, be recorded as a convicted felon, and obey probation terms.   
   Conrad Black was convicted of obstruction of justice in July 2007 for removing   
   13 boxes containing financial records from his office in Toronto after they   
   had been sealed by a court order, returning the boxes a few days later.   
   Barry Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice on April 13, 2011 for his   
   testimony in front of the grand jury during the BALCO steroid scandal.[1] The   
   conviction was later overturned by an appellate court.[2]   
   In United States v. Binion, malingering or feigning illness during a   
   competency evaluation was held to be obstruction of justice and led to an   
   enhanced sentence.[3]   
   Obstruction trends   
      
   "Anticipatory obstruction of justice" has recently appeared on the horizon in   
   cases such as US v. Wolff. However, the operative section, 1519, passed in   
   2002, has thus far languished in quasi-obscurity. Titled "Destruction,   
   Alteration or Falsification of    
   Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy," the provision was passed   
   under Section 802 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.   
      
   The text of the statute is relatively straightforward:   
      
   Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsified,   
   or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the   
   intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper   
   administration of any matter    
   within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or   
   any case filed under Title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such   
   matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20   
   years, or both.   
      
   Aside from Section 1519's 20-year maximum prison sentence (no small benefit to   
   the government in big-dollar fraud loss cases such as Wolff), its primary   
   appeal is that it uniquely removes certain key proof burdens from prosecutors'   
   collective shoulders.   
      
   Prosecutors charging violations of Section 1519 must still establish both of   
   the following:   
      
   The accused knowingly directed the obstructive act to affect an issue or   
   matter within the jurisdiction of any U.S. department or agency.   
   The accused acted at least "in relation to" or "in contemplation'" of such   
   issue or matter.   
   Not on the list, however, is the requirement that prosecutors demonstrate to   
   the finder of fact which specific "pending proceeding" the accused attempted   
   to obstruct. That is a significant benefit to the government.[4]   
      
   See also   
      
   False evidence   
   Obstructing government administration   
   Perverting the course of justice, a similar concept in the Commonwealth of   
   Nations   
   Jury tampering   
   Witness tampering   
   Spoliation of evidence   
   Footnotes   
      
   "LA Now". Los Angeles Times.   
   "Barry Bonds conviction overturned". San Jose Mercury News.   
   "Behavior of the Defendant in a Competency-to-Stand-Trial Evaluation Becomes   
   an Issue in Sentencing". Journal of the American Psychiatric Association.   
   Retrieved October 10, 2007.   
   See generally T. Markus Funk, "Charges that Sting: 'Honey Laundering' and the   
   New Era of Obstruction Prosecutions," 25 Westlaw Journal - White Collar Crime   
   6 (March 2011)   
   External links   
      
   Obstruction of Justice: an Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes that   
   Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities,   
   Congressional Research Service, December 27, 2007   
   Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to   
   Interference with Congressional Activities, Congressional Research Service,   
   November 5, 2010   
      
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