Tampering Crimes – Orlando Criminal Attorney

Tampering with evidence charges can result from a number of scenarios, and the penalties for these offense can be severe depending on the circumstances involved. If you have been arrested for tampering with evidence, you should speak with an experienced Orlando criminal attorney at your earliest opportunity to learn about your rights and the defenses that may be available to you.

Tampering with Evidence:

No person, knowing that a criminal trial or proceeding or an investigation by a duly constituted prosecuting authority, law enforcement agency, grand jury, or legislative committee of this state is pending or is about to be instituted, shall:

1) Alter, destroy, conceal, or remove any record, document, or thing with the purpose to impair its verity or availability in such proceeding or investigation; or

2) Make, present, or use any record, document, or thing, knowing it to be false.

Criminal Penalties for Tampering with Evidence:

Tampering with evidence is a third degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in State prison.

Tampering with Jurors:

A person commits tampering with jurors when they influence the judgment or decision of any grand or petit juror on any matter, question, cause, or proceeding which may be pending, or which may by law be brought, before him or her as such juror, with intent to obstruct the administration of justice.

Criminal Penalties for Tampering with Jurors:

Tampering with jurors is a third degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in State prison.

Tampering with or Harassing a Witness, Victim or Informant:

A person commits tampering when they knowingly use intimidation or physical force, or threaten another person, or attempt to do so, or engage in misleading conduct toward another person, or offer pecuniary benefit or gain to another person, with intent to cause or induce any person to:

1) Withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official investigation or official proceeding;
2) 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;
3) 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;
4) Be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process;
5) 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
6) Testify untruthfully in an official investigation or an official proceeding.

commits the crime of tampering with a witness, victim, or informant.

Tampering by Harassment:

A person can also commit tampering if they intentionally harasses another person and thereby hinder, delay, prevent, or dissuade any person from:

1) Attending or testifying in an official proceeding or cooperating in an official investigation;
2) 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;
3) Arresting or seeking the arrest of another person in connection with an offense; or
4) 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, commits the crime of harassing a witness, victim, or informant.

Criminal Penalties for Tampering with a Witness:

Tampering with a Witness can be either a misdemeanor or felony offense depending on the facts of the case.

Experienced Orlando Criminal Attorney:

If you or a loved one have been arrested for tampering, call the Wilson Law Firm today to speak with an experienced Orlando criminal attorney about your individual situation. In many tampering cases, a properly prepared defense by a criminal lawyer will result in either reduced penalties, reduced charges, or a dismissal of the charges. Even in tampering cases where the evidence of guilt is overwhelming, a properly prepared defense and presentation of mitigating circumstances by an Orlando criminal attorney can result in significant decreases in the penalties you receive.

Florida Statutes – Tampering:

Speak with an Orlando criminal attorney or review the following Florida Statute for more information on tampering:
Florida Statute 918.12 – Tampering with jurors.
Florida Statue 918.13 – Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Florida Statute 914.22 – Tampering with or harassing a witness, victim, or informant; penalties.

Tampering – Orlando Criminal Attorney Services:

Speak with a Orlando criminal attorney and review our website for more information on Florida criminal offenses: