Witness tampering
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Witness tampering is harming or otherwise threatening a witness, hoping to influence their testimony.
In the United States, the crime of witness tampering in federal cases is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at Title 18, Part I, Chapter 73, Section 1512, "Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant". The punishment for such an offense is up to 20 years if physical force was used or attempted, and up to 10 years if physical force was only threatened. The tampering need not have actually be successful in order for it to be criminal.
Possibly the most famous case involving section 1512 is Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2005. [1]. The Supreme Court ruled that section 1512 had been misinterpreted by the Fifth Circuit Court, and reversed the decision of the lower court which had found the firm guilty of violating the section. (The issue had, to some extent, become moot, because in 2002 the firm had all but dissolved as a result of prosecution on this criminal charge.)
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