Tampering wih a Witness

From the Law Office of Alison Grinter in Dallas, Texas

1 Degree
2 Statute(s)
3 Caselaw
4 Collateral Consequences
5 Notes

Degree

Witness Tampering is a state jail felony .

Statute(s)

§ 36.05. TAMPERING WITH WITNESS.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to influence the witness, he offers, confers, or agrees to confer any benefit on a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding or coerces a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding:
    (1) to testify falsely;
    (2) to withhold any testimony, information, document, or thing;
    (3) to elude legal process summoning him to testify or supply evidence;
    (4) to absent himself from an official proceeding to which he has been legally summoned; or
    (5) to abstain from, discontinue, or delay the prosecution of another.
(b) A witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding commits an offense if he knowingly solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit on the representation or understanding that he will do any of the things specified in Subsection (a).
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5) that the benefit received was:
    (1) reasonable restitution for damages suffered by the complaining witness as a result of the offense; and
    (2) a result of an agreement negotiated with the assistance or acquiescence of an attorney for the state who represented the state in the case.
(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1,
1994; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 721, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.