Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (2026)

Coercion or persuasion of witness

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaTenn. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) A person commits an offense who, by means of coercion, influences or attempts to influence a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding with intent to influence the witness to:
- (1) Testify falsely;
- (2) Withhold any truthful testimony, truthful information, document or thing; or
- (3) Elude legal process summoning the witness to testify or supply evidence, or to be absent from an official proceeding to which the witness has been legally summoned.

(b) A violation of this section is a Class D felony.

(c) A defendant in a criminal case involving domestic assault, pursuant to § 39-13-111, or a person acting at the direction of the defendant, commits an offense who, by any means of persuasion that is not coercion, intentionally influences or attempts to influence a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding to:
- (1) Testify falsely;
- (2) Withhold any truthful testimony, information, document, or evidence; or
- (3) Elude legal process summoning the witness to testify or supply evidence, or to be absent from an official proceeding to which the witness has been legally summoned.

(d) A violation of subsection (c) is a Class A misdemeanor and, upon conviction, the sentence runs consecutively to the sentence for any other offense that is based in whole or in part on the factual allegations about which the person was seeking to influence a witness.

(e) Nothing in this section shall operate to impede the investigative activities of an attorney representing a defendant.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 104,s 1, eff. 7/1/2019.

Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 980, § 8.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1999–2025 · leading case: Willard v. Golden Gallon-tn, LLC, 154 S.W.3d 571 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Willard v. Golden Gallon-tn, LLC, 154 S.W.3d 571 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 4× “In addition to the above contempt statutes, we also note Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-16-507 which provides in pertinent part as follows: (a) A person commits an offense who by means of coercion, influence or attempts to influence a witness or prospective witness in an official…”

Matthews v. Storgion, 335 F. Supp. 2d 878 (W.D. Tenn. 2004). · cites it 6× “The Court notes, however, that the Willard court did not hold that Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-16-507 provides a private cause of action.”

United States v. Alfred Ford, 571 F. App'x 378 (6th Cir. 2014). “punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, regardless of whether a criminal charge was brought, or a conviction obtained”); see also Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (classifying “[a] violation of this section” as “a Class D felony”) and Tenn.”

State of Tennessee v. Christopher Lynn Inman (Tenn. Crim. App. 2011). · cites it 10× “” T.C.A. § 39-16-507, Sentencing Commission Comments.”

State of Tennessee v. Thomas Carter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2006). · cites it 8× “” T.C.A. § 39-16-507, Sentencing Commission Comments.”

State of Tennessee v. Joseph Scott Hayes (Tenn. Crim. App. 2003). · cites it 8× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 . One type of coercion is defined as a threat, however communicated, to commit any offense.”

State of Tennessee v. Myra S. Bikrev (Tenn. Crim. App. 2003). · cites it 6× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (a)(1) - (3) (1997).”

Mary Reynolds, As Adm'r Of The Est. Of Carol Ann Reynolds v. Gray Med. Investors, LLC., 578 S.W.3d 918 (2018). “The alleged statements at issue in this case, however, concern suborning perjury, an act not protected by the peer review statute as suborning perjury is a crime pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (2014) and serves only to defeat the stated purpose of Tenn.”

Harold B. Schaffer v. Tennessee Dep't of Corr. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “Appellant was charged in case #813407 with the prison disciplinary offense of conspiracy to violate state law based on Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-16-507, coercion of a witness.”

State of Tennessee v. Tony Stewart (Tenn. Crim. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (a). Coercion includes a threat to “[c]ommit any offense.”

State of Tennessee v. Michael Anthony Tharpe (Tenn. Crim. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “]” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507 (a)(2) (2019).”

Fenton v. Story (M.D. Tenn. 2025). · cites it 2× “§ 66-27-123, NOTICE TO TENANT OF INTENT TO CONVERT RENTAL UNITS TO UNITS FOR SALE”); Count Two (“VIOLATION OF T.C.A. § 39-16-507, COERCION OR PERSUASION OF WITNESS”); Count Three (“VIOLATION OF T.”

Show all 18 citing cases →

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507(a) — 2 cases

State of Tennessee v. Christopher Lynn Inman (Tenn. Crim. App. 2011). “” T.C.A. § 39-16-507, Sentencing Commission Comments.”

State of Tennessee v. Bobby Joe Lester (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005).

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-507(a)(1) — 1 case

State of Tennessee v. Thomas Carter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2006). “” T.C.A. § 39-16-507, Sentencing Commission Comments.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.