Legal Definitions - embracery

Embracery refers to the illegal act of attempting to improperly influence or corrupt a judge or a member of a jury. This often involves actions like offering bribes, making threats, or using other deceptive or improper means to sway their decision in a legal case. While the term "embracery" is less commonly used in modern legal practice, the underlying actions are still serious crimes, typically prosecuted under laws related to bribery, obstruction of justice, or jury tampering.

Here are some examples illustrating embracery:

• Imagine a high-stakes corporate fraud trial. A close associate of one of the defendants approaches a juror during a lunch break outside the courthouse. The associate subtly offers the juror a significant sum of money, disguised as a "consulting fee," with the clear implication that the juror should vote for an acquittal. This action constitutes embracery because it is an attempt to corruptly influence a juror through bribery to affect the trial's outcome.

• In a highly publicized criminal case, a family member of the accused, desperate for a favorable verdict, sends anonymous threatening messages to a juror's home. The messages imply harm to the juror's property if they do not vote in favor of the defendant. This scenario exemplifies embracery as it involves an attempt to wrongfully influence a juror's decision through intimidation and threats.

• Consider a civil lawsuit involving a property dispute. One of the parties, frustrated with the slow pace of the trial, tries to arrange a private, off-the-record meeting with the presiding judge to present additional arguments and evidence that were not admitted in court, hoping to sway the judge's final ruling. This attempt to communicate with and influence the judge outside of proper legal channels would be considered embracery, as it seeks to improperly affect a judicial decision.