You're Being Charged With Obstruction! Now What?!

Obstruction of justice is a charge that virtually every defense attorney in America will have some reason to grumble about. The crime of obstruction occurs when a person interferes with a police, prosecutorial, civil or federal investigation. You don't have to be the subject of the investigation to be accused of obstructing, either.

If you're looking at an obstruction charge, you're likely wondering how to even respond to the allegations. Here's what a criminal defense lawyer would tell you.

Process Crimes

At its core, obstruction of justice is a concept aimed at offenses committed against the process. There's an old joke, far from accurate, that says, "No one goes to jail for the crime, just the cover-up." It's that fear of people covering up evidence or deterring testimony in both criminal and civil cases that underpins the very idea of obstruction in the legal system. For justice to be administered, the government believes and appeals courts have long held that there must be penalties for things like destroying or falsifying evidence, lying to investigators and encouraging witnesses to not speak.

Don't You Have 5th Amendment Rights?

Yes, you do. There's a distinction though between invoking your right against self-incrimination and taking obstructive actions.

A simple way to understand it is to consider your role in helping the police do their job. Under the 5th Amendment, you're not required to do the cops' job for them. Obstruction only occurs when someone crosses the line between not helping the police and outright trying to thwart them.

It's also important to understand how the 5th Amendment should be invoked. You have the right to invoke it when you're being investigated, but almost no one else does in relation to your case. Third-party immunity under the 5th Amendment is only recognized by the courts in special relationships, such as attorney-client privilege, doctor-patient privilege and marriage. Your best friend can't lie to the police to protect you without opening themselves to criminal exposure for obstruction.

What to Do?

Especially when dealing with process crimes, it helps a lot to have a criminal defense attorney around to explain things and provide directions. Also, halt all obstructive actions. If you're shredding documents in a civil case, for example, the difference between being accused of obstruction versus the lesser offense of spoliation may be that you stopped doing it once you were aware there was a legal problem with it.