Legal Definitions - obliterate

To obliterate means to completely remove, erase, or destroy something, often with the intent to leave no trace or to render it unreadable or unusable. In a legal context, this term frequently refers to the deliberate act of altering or destroying documents, records, or evidence.

• Example 1: Altering a Legal Document

  Imagine a person who has written a will by hand. Before their death, they decide they no longer wish for a specific piece of jewelry to go to a particular relative. They take a thick black marker and draw heavily over the paragraph detailing that bequest, making the original text completely unreadable.

  Explanation: This action constitutes an obliteration because the individual has physically wiped out or erased the specific writing on the will. By rendering that section illegible, they have demonstrated an intent to remove that provision from the document's legal effect.

• Example 2: Destroying Evidence

  Consider a situation where a company is under investigation for financial fraud. An executive, fearing discovery, orders the IT department to permanently delete all emails, spreadsheets, and digital communications related to the fraudulent activities from the company's servers and backup systems, ensuring no recoverable copies remain.

  Explanation: The executive's actions are an attempt to obliterate evidence. By permanently deleting all digital traces of the relevant files, they are trying to remove these records from existence and destroy any proof of the fraudulent activities, which could have significant legal consequences.

• Example 3: Removing Identifying Marks

  A person illegally imports a vehicle and, to avoid detection and make it difficult to trace the vehicle's origin, uses specialized tools to grind away the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from the chassis and engine block, leaving smooth metal where the numbers once were.

  Explanation: Grinding away the VIN is an act of obliteration. The individual has physically removed the unique identifying markings from the vehicle, effectively wiping out the crucial information that links the vehicle to its legal registration and history, thereby hindering law enforcement's ability to identify it.