American Samoa § 46.4617 - Criminal contempt.

§ 46.4617. Criminal contempt.

(a) A person commits the crime of criminal contempt when he engages in any of the following conduct: (1) disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior committed during the sitting of a court, in its immediate view and presence, and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority; (2) breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance directly tending to interrupt a court’s proceedings; (3) intentional disobedience or resistance to the process, injunction, or other mandate of a court; (4) contumacious refusal to be sworn as a witness in any court proceeding or, after being sworn, to answer any proper interrogatory; (5) knowingly publishing a false or grossly inaccurate report of a court’s proceedings; (6) intentional refusal to serve as a juror; (7) intentional and unexcused failure by a juror to attend a trial at which he has been chosen to serve as a juror; or (8) intentional failure to appear personally on the required date, having been released from custody, with or without bail, by court order or by other lawful authority, upon condition that he will subsequently appear personally in connection with a criminal action or proceeding. (b) Criminal contempt is a class A misdemeanor, except for violations of paragraph (a) (1). A violation of paragraph (a) (1) is a class B misdemeanor. Case Notes: Criminal contempt statute authorizing the executive to prosecute certain conduct as criminal contempt of court does not limit court’s power to act on its own under general contempt statute. A.S.C.A. §§ 3.0203, 46.4617. American Samoa Government v. Godinet, 7 A.S.R.2d 127 (1988). General contempt statute may give rise to criminal liability despite existence of separate statute making certain acts criminal offenses. A.S.C.A. §§ 3.0203, 46.4617. American Samoa Government v. Godinet, 7 A.S.R.2d 127 (1988).