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RCW 9A.72.110

Intimidating a witness.

Known as the Washington Criminal Code

The act spans §§ 9A.04.010 to 9A.98.020 (401 sections).

Applied in 49 court decisions — leading case 122 Wash. 2d 192 - State v. Talley (2005)

Most recently applied in 196 Wash. 2d 797 - In re Recall of Hatcher (January 2021)

2011 c 165 s 2; 1997 c 29 s 1; 1994 c 271 s 204; 1985 c 327 s 2; 1982 1st ex.s. c 47 s 18; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 s 9A.72.110.

How often courts cite this section

1980199020002010202160
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person is guilty of intimidating a witness if a person, by use of a threat against a current or prospective witness, attempts to:

(a) Influence the testimony of that person;

(b) Induce that person to elude legal process summoning him or her to testify;

(c) Induce that person to absent himself or herself from such proceedings; or

(d) Induce that person not to report the information relevant to a criminal investigation or the abuse or neglect of a minor child, not to have the crime or the abuse or neglect of a minor child prosecuted, or not to give truthful or complete information relevant to a criminal investigation or the abuse or neglect of a minor child.

(2) A person also is guilty of intimidating a witness if the person directs a threat to a former witness because of the witness's role in an official proceeding.

(3) As used in this section:

(a) "Threat" means:

(i) To communicate, directly or indirectly, the intent immediately to use force against any person who is present at the time; or

(ii) Threat as defined in *RCW 9A.04.110(27).

(b) "Current or prospective witness" means:

(i) A person endorsed as a witness in an official proceeding;

(ii) A person whom the actor believes may be called as a witness in any official proceeding; or

(iii) A person whom the actor has reason to believe may have information relevant to a criminal investigation or the abuse or neglect of a minor child.

(c) "Former witness" means:

(i) A person who testified in an official proceeding;

(ii) A person who was endorsed as a witness in an official proceeding;

(iii) A person whom the actor knew or believed may have been called as a witness if a hearing or trial had been held; or

(iv) A person whom the actor knew or believed may have provided information related to a criminal investigation or an investigation into the abuse or neglect of a minor child.

(4) Intimidating a witness is a class B felony.

(5) For purposes of this section, each instance of an attempt to intimidate a witness constitutes a separate offense.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.