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What counts as obstruction of justice?

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thinid

Member
I live in Idaho.

My step-son, while in the care of his father, made statements to the police which resulted in me being charged with felony child abuse. A few weeks later, he told his mother (my wife) that he had lied. I was not present. My wife scheduled an appointment for him to see a counselor to verify if he was now telling the truth or not. Unfortuneately, she told his father about it. The father then contacted the prosecutor and told them that he was concerned that his son was being manipulated and needed to get him away from his mother. I do not believe he said anything about the son changing his story. The prosecutor called a Grand Jury and managed to get my wife charged with failure to report, which the police had previously investigated and dismissed. This resulted in my wife getting a no-contact order and the son being in the sole custody of his father. This occured prior to the son's counseling appointment and so he never went.
My question is: Does this possibly give me grounds to file a police report? Anything the son may have said in counseling could have potentially been used as evidence in my case; if he confirmed that he had originally lied and satisfied a child pyschologist that he was now being honest, it could have even gotten my case dismissed.
I believe that the father intentionally tried to prevent his son from being seen by a counselor soley to keep him from saying anything that could have cleared me. In Idaho Law 18-2603 it sounds like it is only a crime if something like this were to happen during an investigation.
ANy help or insight is appreciated.
 


Isis1

Senior Member
Is your investigation still ongoing? Has anyone subpeonaed the counselor? When is your trial date?
 

thinid

Member
My investigation is over, I have a trial set for December 13th.
He never saw the counselor, so I don't think supeanaing her would do any good??
My wife and another adult (a friend of hers) both heard the son say that he lied to the police (he is 6 by the way), but only my wife could confirm that she told the father about it and why he had a counseling appointment.
 

Isis1

Senior Member
Where is the child now? Does mom have visitation? Does she have legal custody? Did dad file a restraining order against her?

Do you have an attorney?
 

thinid

Member
Sorry,

I thought I answered all of this in my original post.

The child is with his father.
The mother does not have visitation. A No-Contact order was issued against her.
Yes, I do have an attorney.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Obstruction of justice? Because a father is trying to protect his son? Unlikely.

Even if the child recanted, it really wouldn't change anything. While the olden day saying that kids don't make such things up has, thankfully, started to be less accepted as true; the fact he said it will have to be fully investigated. Dad not having son go to counseling is not going to be prosecuted unless the court ordered the counseling.
 

thinid

Member
Right.

The father knew why his son was scheduled to see a counselor. Prior to this, he had not made any claims against the mother. Then, he tells the prosecutor a story about how his son is suffering emotional stress by being with his mom. The prosecutor calls for a Grand Jury and gets an indictment, resulting in a protection order. The mother cant take the son to his appointment because now the father has sole custody. Hence, the boy doesn't say anything to an independent third party about how he lied to the police. The father did not say anything to the prosecutor about the counseling appointment nor about his son having told his mother the truth.

Myself, the son and his father know the truth; that I never hit him. From my perspective, this is an obvious attempt by the father to keep his son from saying anything that would help me. I think that preventing a witness from making a statement is illegal even if it is not part of an investigation, if it could result in evidence. Maybe I'm stretching, but I don't have any way of getting the son into a counselor, and every statement he's made has been in the presence of his dad.
 

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