Tampering with a Witness
Contact a criminal defense attorney to discuss an allegation of tampering, harassing, intimidating, or interfering with the alleged victim, a witness, or a confidential informant.
It is best to avoid any contact with a witness while a criminal case or investigation is pending.
In many of these cases, however, the witness is a spouse, family member, co-worker, or neighbor which makes avoiding all contact more difficult.
The most common defenses in these cases are that the contact never occurred, that the contact was for some legitimate purpose, or that the contact was intended only to encourage the witness to testify truthfully.
Crimes for witness tampering can be charged under state or federal law, depending on how and where the crime allegedly occurred.
Attorney for Witness Tampering Crimes in Tampa, FL
If you are arrested for any charge of Tampering with a Witness under Section 914.22(1) or Retaliating Against a Witness under Section 914.23, you will not be released on bail until after your first appearance hearing.
The judge presiding at the first appearance hearing will determine the appropriate bail bond amount.
Having a criminal defense attorney at the first appearance in court might lead to your release on the most favorable terms possible.
Contact us to discuss the case with a criminal defense attorney at Sammis Law Firm in Tampa, FL.
We represent clients on criminal charges throughout Hillsborough County, FL, and the surrounding counties throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.
Visit our offices in Tampa, New Port Richey, and Clearwater, FL.
Call 813-250-0500
Elements of Tampering with a Witness
Florida Statute Section 914.22(1) contains the following elements:
- A person knowingly does one of the following:
a. uses intimidation or physical force;
b. threatens another person;
c. attempts to threaten another person;
d. engages in misleading conduct toward another person; or
e. offers pecuniary benefit or gain to another person;
AND
2. The act is committed with the intent to cause or induce any person to:
- withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official investigation or official proceeding;
- alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the integrity or availability of the object for use in an official investigation or official proceeding;
- evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official investigation or an official proceeding;
- be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process;
- hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge of information relating to the commission or possible commission of an offense or a violation of a condition of probation, parole, or release pending a judicial proceeding; or
- testify untruthfully in an official investigation or an official proceeding.
Penalties for Witness Tampering Crimes in Florida
The penalties and punishments for tampering with a witness are set out in Florida Statute Section 914.22(2).
As a general rule, the charges for tampering with a witness depend on the seriousness of the underlying official investigation or official proceeding. For example, if the underlying investigation or proceeding involves the investigation or prosecution of:
- a misdemeanor, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the third degree;
- a third-degree felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the second degree;
- a second-degree felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the first degree;
- a first-degree felony or a first-degree felony punishable by a term of years not exceeding life, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the first degree; or
- a life or capital felony, then the crime can be charged as a life felony.
Under Florida Statute Section 914.22(2)(f), the crime may be charged as a third degree felony when:
- the offense level of the affected official investigation or official proceeding is indeterminable; or
- where the affected official investigation or official proceeding involves a noncriminal investigation or proceeding.
Definitions for Florida’s Witness Tampering Statute
Under § 914.21, Fla. Stat., the term “misleading conduct” is defined, for purposes of Florida’s witness tampering statute, to mean:
- Knowingly making a false statement;
- Intentionally omitting information from a statement and thereby causing a portion of such statement to be misleading, or intentionally concealing a material fact and thereby creating a false impression by such statement;
- With intent to mislead, knowingly submitting, or inviting reliance on a writing or recording that is false, forged, altered, or otherwise lacking in authenticity;
- With intent to mislead, knowingly submitting, or inviting reliance on a sample, specimen, map, photograph, boundary mark, or another object that is misleading in a material respect; or
- Knowingly using a trick, scheme, or device with the intent to mislead.
The term “official investigation” is defined to mean “any investigation instituted by a law enforcement agency or prosecuting officer of the state or a political subdivision of the state or the Commission on Ethics.”
The term “official proceeding” is defined to mean one of the following:
- A proceeding before a judge or court or a grand jury;
- A proceeding before the Legislature;
- A proceeding before a federal agency that is authorized by law; or
- A proceeding before the Commission on Ethics.
The term “physical force” is defined to mean “physical action against another and includes confinement.”
Crimes for Harassing a Witness, Victim, or Informant in Florida
Under Florida Statute Section 914.22(3), a person commits the crime of harassing a witness, victim, or informant when the person:
- intentionally harasses another person; and
- thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades any person from:
- Attending or testifying in an official proceeding or cooperating in an official investigation;
- Reporting to a law enforcement officer or judge the commission or possible commission of an offense or a violation of a condition of probation, parole, or release pending a judicial proceeding;
- Arresting or seeking the arrest of another person in connection with an offense; or
- Causing a criminal prosecution, or a parole or probation revocation proceeding, to be sought or instituted, or from assisting in such prosecution or proceeding;
- or attempts to do so.
Florida Statute Section 914.22(4) provides the penalties and punishments for harassing a witness, victim, or informant. The penalties and punishments depend on the severity of the underlying offense.
For example, where the official investigation or official proceeding affected involves the investigation or prosecution of:
- a misdemeanor, then the crime can be charged as a misdemeanor of the first degree;
- a third-degree felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the third degree;
- a second-degree felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the second degree;
- a first-degree felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the first degree;
- a felony of the first degree punishable by a term of years not exceeding life or a prosecution of a life or capital felony, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the first degree;
Under Florida Statute Section 914.22(4), where the offense level of the affected official investigation or official proceeding is indeterminable or where the affected official investigation or official proceeding involves a noncriminal investigation or proceeding, then the crime can be charged as a felony of the third degree.
Crimes for witness tampering at the federal level are prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. 1512.
Limits on Defenses to Tampering or Harassing a Witness
It is not necessarily a defense to the crime that the official proceeding is not pending or about to be initiated, as provided in Florida Statute Section 914.22(5). Also, the testimony, record, document, or other objects need not be admissible in evidence or free of a claim of privilege.
The statute also provides that in a prosecution for the crime of tampering or harassing a witness, the prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office does not need to prove any state of mind with respect to the circumstance:
- That the official proceeding before a judge, court, grand jury, or government agency is before a judge or court of the state, a state or local grand jury, or a state agency; or
- That the judge is a judge of the state or that the law enforcement officer is an officer or employee of the state or a person authorized to act for or on behalf of the state or serving the state as an adviser or consultant.
Addition Resources on Witness Tampering
Florida Statute 914.22 – Visit the website of the Florida Senate to read the statutory language and learn more about the legislative history behind Florida’s statute for tampering or harassing a witness or victim in a pending criminal case or investigation.
Witness Tampering – Visit Wikipedia to learn more about witness tampering charges in the state and federal courts in the United States. The article discusses charges for witness tampering in federal court as defined by statute at 18 U.S.C. § 1512. The article also discusses similar charges in England and Wales known as “perverting the course of justice” under Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994.
Finding a Lawyer for Tampering with a Witness Charges in Tampa Bay
If you are charged under Florida Statute Section 914.22 with harassing, interfering with, intimidating, or tampering with a witness or the alleged victim in a pending criminal case, contact a criminal defense attorney at Sammis Law Firm.
Our lawyers fight felony charges for witness tampering throughout Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the surrounding area of Tampa Bay, including Pinellas County, Pasco County, and Hernando County, FL.
Visit our main office in Tampa near the Criminal Courthouse Annex. We also have offices in New Port Richey near the West Pasco Judicial Center or Clearwater near the Criminal Justice Center (CJC) courthouse.
Call (813) 250-0500 today.
This article was last updated on Tuesday, April 19, 2023.
