Opinion ID: 499793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Witness Tampering; 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1503

Text: 14 Shannon's conviction under Count VI of the indictment involves his conversation with a former teller at Farmers and Merchants, Jacklyn Gray. Gray testified that Shannon approached her during the period of time when agents of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS were investigating Shannon's activities and advised her that it would be in her best interest to forget about any large currency transactions which she may have processed while a teller at the bank. The defendant contends that this evidence cannot support his conviction because the government did not prove that Gray was ever a witness before the grand jury, or that Shannon knew that Gray was to be a grand jury witness. 15 This argument is also without merit. A conviction under section 1503 for attempting to influence a witness is appropriate so long as there is a possibility that the target of the defendant's activities will be called upon to testify in an official proceeding. In other words, a person may be convicted of obstructing justice if he urges or persuades a prospective witness to give false testimony. United States v. Risken, 788 F.2d 1361, 1369 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 329, 93 L.Ed.2d 302 (1986); see United States v. Friedland, 660 F.2d 919, 931 (3d Cir.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 989, 102 S.Ct. 2268, 73 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1982). Neither must the target be scheduled to testify at the time of the offense, nor must he or she actually give testimony at a later time. 16 In this case, Jacklyn Gray's knowledge of facts significant to the Shannon investigation is undisputed. It is also not disputed that Gray did eventually make a statement to government investigators. The court believes that it was reasonable for the jury to find that Shannon thought Gray was or would be a grand jury witness at the time of their conversation. The record contains sufficient evidence to sustain Shannon's conviction on this count. 17