Tampering With Evidence Defense In Lake County

Tampering With Evidence

Florida’s tampering laws are strictly enforced. The State no longer views this as a “minor” obstruction charge; it is a felony that carries significant weight on your criminal scoresheet.

The Legal Classification & Penalties

The severity of a tampering charge depends on the nature of the investigation you are allegedly interfering with:

• Third-Degree Felony (Standard): In most cases—such as flushing drugs or hiding a weapon—tampering is a third-degree felony. It is punishable by up to 5 years in Florida State Prison and a $5,000 fine.

• Second-Degree Felony (Capital Cases): If you tamper with evidence related to a Capital Felony investigation (such as a homicide or specific high-level trafficking), the charge is elevated. This is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Common Examples of Tampering

• Destruction: Swallowing narcotics, flushing substances down a toilet, or shredding documents.

• Concealment: Hiding a firearm in a neighbor’s yard or stashing digital devices after a crime.

• Fabrication: Presenting falsified screenshots, receipts, or documents to investigators to “prove” an alibi.

The State’s Burden: What They Must Prove

To convict you, the State Attorney in Tavares must prove three specific elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Knowledge: You knew that a criminal trial, investigation, or proceeding was pending or about to be started.
2. Action: You altered, destroyed, concealed, or removed a record, document, or “thing.”
3. Purpose: You acted with the specific intent to impair that item’s availability or truthfulness for the investigation.

Strategic Defenses: FIghting the Charge

Because tampering requires “specific intent,” there are several high-ground defenses to pursue:

• Abandonment vs. Tampering: Florida courts have ruled that simply discarding an item (like throwing a baggie out of a car window in plain view) is not necessarily tampering. If the item remains available for the police to find, Attorney Lewis may argue it was “abandoned,” not “concealed.”

• Lack of Knowledge: If you destroyed an item before you realized the police were investigating (e.g., deleting a video before a fight was reported), it is difficult for the State to prove you knew a proceeding was “pending or about to be instituted.”

• No Intent to Impair: The destruction of the item was for a reason other than interfering with an investigation—such as cleaning a residence or fear of a different, unrelated consequence.

• Illegal Search & Seizure: If the evidence was only found because of an illegal stop or a search conducted without a warrant, Lewis Defense Law may file a Motion to Suppress. If the underlying evidence is suppressed, the tampering charge often falls with it.

The Lewis Defense Law Advantage

• Inside Perspective: Having built these cases as a prosecutor, Attorney Lewis knows that “tampering” is often a reach. Attorney Lewis will look for the gaps in the police reports where “reflexive panic” is being mislabeled as “criminal intent.”

• Trial Ready: Attorney Lewis will not back down from a jury. If the State cannot prove you intended to obstruct justice, he are ready to take them to trial.

• Protecting Your Future: The goal is to avoid a felony conviction on your record. Lewis Defense Law will fight for Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) or “Withholds of Adjudication” to save your rights and your career.