(1) A person commits the offense of tampering with a publicly-exhibited contest if:

Attorney's Note

Under the Hawaii Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
misdemeanorup to 1 year$2,000
For details, see Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-663

Have a question?
Click here to chat with a criminal defense lawyer and protect your rights.

(a) He confers, or offers or agrees to confer, directly or indirectly, any benefit upon:

(i) A contest participant with intent to influence him not to give his best efforts in a publicly-exhibited contest; or
(ii) A contest official with intent to influence him to perform improperly his duties in connection with a publicly-exhibited contest;
(b) Being a contest participant or contest official, he intentionally solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept, directly or indirectly, any benefit from another person with intent that he will thereby be influenced:

(i) In the case of a contest participant, not to give his best efforts in a publicly-exhibited contest; or
(ii) In the case of a contest official, to perform improperly his duties in connection with a publicly-exhibited contest; or
(c) With intent to influence the outcome of a publicly-exhibited contest he:

(i) Tampers with any contest participant, contest official, animal, equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or operation of the contest, in a manner contrary to the rules and usages purporting to govern the contest in question; or
(ii) Substitutes a contest participant, animal, equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or operation of the contest, for the genuine person, animal, or thing.
(2) In this section:

“Contest official” means any person who acts or expects to act in a publicly-exhibited contest as an umpire, referee, or judge, or otherwise to officiate at a publicly-exhibited contest.

“Contest participant” means any person who participates or expects to participate in a publicly-exhibited contest as a player, contestant, or member of a team, or as a coach, manager, trainer, or other person directly associated with a player, contestant, or team.

“Publicly-exhibited contest” means any professional or amateur sport, athletic game or contest, or race or contest involving machines, persons, or animals, viewed by the public, but does not include an exhibition which does not purport to be and which is not represented as being such a sport, game, contest, or race.

(3) Tampering with a publicly-exhibited contest is a misdemeanor.