Haw. Rev. Stat. § 708-881: Tampering with a publicly-exhibited contest.

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

(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. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1]

Revision Note

In subsection (1)(a)(ii), "or" deleted and in subsection (2), paragraph designations deleted, definitions rearranged, and punctuation changed pursuant to §23G-15.

COMMENTARY ON §708-881

The purpose of this section is to penalize corruption of publicly-exhibited contests. It represents a broadening of previous legislation penalizing sports bribery and tampering. Note that publicly-exhibited contest includes, by definition in subsection (2)(a), not only sporting events, but also non-athletic contests, such as quiz shows. In addition to the possibilities of wholesale fraud, there is a substantial element of public affront at rigging or tampering with the outcome of publicly-exhibited contests: witness the quiz show scandals of the last decade. Moreover, it is felt that such behavior should be deterred because it "subjects legitimate entertainment and advertising to unfair and debasing competition."[1] The last part of subsection (2)(a) provides an exception for exhibitions, such as some wrestling spectacles, which do not purport to be and are not represented as being a sport, contest, game or race.

Subsection (1)(a) defines the offense in terms of the bribe offeror's conduct, whether it be addressed to the contest participant or the contest official. Subsection (1)(b) defines the offense in terms of the bribe solicitor or receiver. Finally, subsection (1)(c) is addressed to corruption, not by bribery, but by improper meddling or clandestine substitution.