RCW 9A.72.120

Tampering with a witness.

Known as the Washington Criminal Code

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

Applied in 53 court decisions — leading case 114 Wash. 2d 77 - State v. Rempel (1990)

Most recently applied in 13 Wash. App. 2d 185 - State Of Washington v. Yeshak K. Bedada (May 2020)

2011 c 165 s 3; 1994 c 271 s 205; 1982 1st ex.s. c 47 s 19; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 s 9A.72.120.

How often courts cite this section

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 tampering with a witness if he or she attempts to induce a witness or person he or she has reason to believe is about to be called as a witness in any official proceeding or a person whom he or she has reason to believe may have information relevant to a criminal investigation or the abuse or neglect of a minor child to:

(a) Testify falsely or, without right or privilege to do so, to withhold any testimony; or

(b) Absent himself or herself from such proceedings; or

(c) Withhold from a law enforcement agency information which he or she has relevant to a criminal investigation or the abuse or neglect of a minor child to the agency.

(2) Tampering with a witness is a class C felony.

(3) For purposes of this section, each instance of an attempt to tamper with 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.