Article 30.

Obstructing Justice.

§ 14‑221.  Breaking or entering jails with intent to injure prisoners.

If any person shall conspire to break or enter any jail or other place of confinement of prisoners charged with crime or under sentence, for the purpose of killing or otherwise injuring any prisoner confined therein; or if any person shall engage in breaking or entering any such jail or other place of confinement of such prisoners with intent to kill or injure any prisoner, he shall be punished as a Class F felon. (1893, c. 461, s. 1; Rev., s. 3698; C.S., s. 4376; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1, c. 179, s. 14; 1993, c. 539, s. 1210; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 14‑221.1.  Altering, destroying, or stealing evidence of criminal conduct.

Any person who breaks or enters any building, structure, compartment, vehicle, file, cabinet, drawer, or any other enclosure wherein evidence relevant to any criminal offense or court proceeding is kept or stored with the purpose of altering, destroying or stealing such evidence; or any person who alters, destroys, or steals any evidence relevant to any criminal offense or court proceeding shall be punished as a Class I felon.

As used in this section, the word evidence shall mean any article or document in the possession of a law‑enforcement officer or officer of the General Court of Justice being retained for the purpose of being introduced in evidence or having been introduced in evidence or being preserved as evidence. (1975, c. 806, ss. 1, 2; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c. 179, s. 14.)

 

§ 14‑221.2.  Altering court documents or entering unauthorized judgments.

Any person who without lawful authority intentionally enters a judgment upon or materially alters or changes any criminal or civil process, criminal or civil pleading, or other official case record is guilty of a Class H felony. (1979, c. 526; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 14; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c. 179, s. 14.)

 

§ 14‑222:  Repealed by Session Laws 1993 (Reg.  Sess., 1994), c. 767, s. 30(12).

 

§ 14‑223.  Resisting officers.

(a) If any person shall willfully and unlawfully resist, delay or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge an official duty, the person is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

(b) If any person shall willfully and unlawfully resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge an official duty, and the resistance, delay, or obstruction is the proximate cause of a public officer's serious injury, the person is guilty of a Class I felony.

(c) If any person shall willfully and unlawfully resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge an official duty, and the resistance, delay, or obstruction is the proximate cause of a public officer's serious bodily injury, the person is guilty of a Class F felony.

(d) "Serious bodily injury" is defined as bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or that causes serious permanent disfigurement, coma, a permanent or protracted condition that causes extreme pain, or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or that results in prolonged hospitalization. (1889, c. 51, s. 1; Rev., s. 3700; C.S., s. 4378; 1969, c. 1224, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 136; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2021‑138, s. 19(a).)

 

§ 14‑224.  Repealed by Session Laws 1973, c. 1286, s. 26.

 

§ 14‑225.  False reports to law enforcement agencies or officers.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who shall willfully make or cause to be made to a law enforcement agency or officer any false, deliberately misleading or unfounded report, for the purpose of interfering with the operation of a law enforcement agency, or to hinder or obstruct any law enforcement officer in the performance of his duty, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

(b) A violation of subsection (a) of this section is punishable as a Class H felony if the false, deliberately misleading, or unfounded report relates to a law enforcement investigation involving the disappearance of a child as that term is defined in G.S. 14‑318.5 or child victim of a Class A, B1, B2, or C felony offense. For purposes of this subsection, a child is any person who is less than 16 years of age. (1941, c. 363; 1969, c. 1224, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 137; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 23, ss. 1‑3; c. 24, s. 14(c); 2013‑52, s. 6.)

 

§ 14‑225.1.  Picketing or parading.

Any person who, with intent to interfere with, obstruct, or impede the administration of justice, or with intent to influence any justice or judge of the General Court of Justice, juror, witness, district attorney, assistant district attorney, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets, parades, or uses any sound truck or similar device within 300 feet of an exit from any building housing any court of the General Court of Justice, or within 300 feet of any building or residence occupied or used by such justice, judge, juror, witness, district attorney, assistant district attorney, or court officer, shall upon plea or conviction be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1977, c. 266, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 138; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 14‑225.2.  Harassment of and communication with jurors.

(a) A person is guilty of harassment of a juror if he:

(1) With intent to influence the official action of another as a juror, harasses, intimidates, or communicates with the juror or his spouse; or

(2) As a result of the prior official action of another as a juror in a grand jury proceeding or trial, threatens in any manner or in any place, or intimidates the former juror or his spouse.

(b) In this section "juror" means a grand juror or a petit juror and includes a person who has been drawn or summoned to attend as a prospective juror.

(c) A person who commits the offense defined in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is guilty of a Class H felony.  A person who commits the offense defined in subdivision (a)(2) of this section is guilty of a Class I felony. (1977, c. 711, s. 16; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 15; 1981, c. 63, s. 1, c. 179, s. 14; 1985, c. 691; 1993, c. 539, s. 1211; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 14‑226.  Intimidating or interfering with witnesses.

(a) If any person shall by threats, menaces or in any other manner intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person who is summoned or acting as a witness in any of the courts of this State, or prevent or deter, or attempt to prevent or deter any person summoned or acting as such witness from attendance upon such court, the person shall be guilty of a Class G felony.

(b) A defendant in a criminal proceeding who threatens a witness in the defendant's case with the assertion or denial of parental rights shall be in violation of this section. (1891, c. 87; Rev., s. 3696; C.S., s. 4380; 1977, c. 711, s. 16; 1993, c. 539, s. 1212; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2004‑128, s. 15; 2006‑264, s. 2; 2011‑190, s. 1.)

 

§ 14‑226.1.  Violating orders of court.

Any person who shall willfully disobey or violate any injunction, restraining order, or any order lawfully issued by any court for the purpose of maintaining or restoring public safety and public order, or to afford protection for lives or property during times of a public crisis, disaster, riot, catastrophe, or when such condition is imminent, or for the purpose of preventing and abating disorderly conduct as defined in G.S. 14‑288.4 shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor which may include a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).  This section shall not in any manner affect the court's power to punish for contempt. (1969, c. 1128; 1993, c. 539, s. 139; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 14‑226.2.  Harassment of participant in neighborhood crime watch program.

Any person who willfully threatens or intimidates an identifiable member or a resident in the same household as the member of a neighborhood crime watch program for the purpose of intimidating or retaliating against that person for the person's participation in a neighborhood crime watch program is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor including a fine of at least three hundred dollars ($300.00). It is a violation of this section for a person to threaten or intimidate an identifiable member or a resident in the same household as the member of a neighborhood crime watch program while that member is traveling to or from a neighborhood crime watch meeting, actively participating in a neighborhood crime watch program activity, or actively participating in an ongoing criminal investigation. (2006‑181, s. 3.)

 

§ 14‑226.3.  Interference with electronic monitoring devices.

(a) For purposes of this section, the term "electronic monitoring device" includes any electronic device that is used to track the location of a person.

(b) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly and without authority remove, destroy, or circumvent the operation of an electronic monitoring device that is being used for the purpose of monitoring a person who is:

(1) Complying with a house arrest program;

(2) Wearing an electronic monitoring device as a condition of bond or pretrial release;

(3) Wearing an electronic monitoring device as a condition of probation;

(4) Wearing an electronic monitoring device as a condition of parole; or

(5) Wearing an electronic monitoring device as a condition of post‑release supervision.

(c) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly and without authority request or solicit any other person to remove, destroy, or circumvent the operation of an electronic monitoring device that is being used for the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section.

(d) This section does not apply to persons who are being monitored by an electronic monitoring device pursuant to the provisions of Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, or Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.

(e) Violation of this section by a person who is required to comply with electronic monitoring as a result of a conviction for a criminal offense is a felony one class lower than the most serious underlying felony or a misdemeanor one class lower than the most serious underlying misdemeanor, except that, if the most serious underlying felony is a Class I felony, then violation of this section is a Class A1 misdemeanor. Violation of this section by a person who is required to comply with electronic monitoring as a condition of bond or pretrial release is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Violation of this section by any other person is a Class 2 misdemeanor. (2009‑415, s. 1.)

 

§ 14‑227.  Failing to attend as witness before legislative committees.

If any person shall willfully fail or refuse to attend or produce papers, on summons of any committee of investigation of either house of the General Assembly, either select or committee of the whole, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). (1869‑70, c. 5, s. 2; Code, s. 2854; Rev., s. 3692; C.S., s. 4381; 1993, c. 539, s. 140; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)