Rhode Island § 11-32-5 - Obstructing Justice

§ 11-32-5. Intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes.

(a) Any person who, by expressly or impliedly threatening to commit any unlawful act, maliciously and knowingly communicates with another person with the specific intent to intimidate a victim of a crime or a witness in any criminal proceeding with respect to that person’s participation in any criminal proceeding shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(b) Any person who, with the specific intent to intimidate a victim of a crime or a witness in any criminal proceeding with respect to that person’s participation in any criminal proceeding, causes a physical injury to or damages the property of any person or expressly or impliedly threatens to cause physical injury to or damage to the property of any person, or, with specific intent to intimidate, acts for pecuniary gain shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both.

(c) As used in this section, “criminal proceeding” means the filing of a criminal complaint, any grand jury proceedings, any trial or hearing conducted in any court relating to a criminal matter, any proceeding before the parole board or any official inquiry into an alleged criminal violation.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an attorney from interviewing any witness or victim or from otherwise investigating a matter on behalf of a client in an otherwise lawful manner.