T.P.I. -- CRIM. 25.02
Any public servant who commits the offense of official oppression is guilty of a crime.
For you to find the defendant guilty of this offense, the state must have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the following essential elements:1
(1) that the defendant was a public servant acting under color of office or
(2)(a) that the defendant intentionally subjected another to mistreatment
or to arrest, detention, stop, frisk, halt, search, seizure,
dispossession, assessment, or lien that the defendant knew was
(b) that the defendant intentionally denied or impeded another in the
exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power or immunity,
when the defendant knew the conduct was unlawful.
"Public servant" means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one (1) of the following even if the public servant has not yet qualified for office or assumed the duties:
(A) an officer, employee, or agent of government; or
(B) a juror or grand juror; or
(C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or
private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or
(D) an attorney at law or notary public when participating in performing a
governmental function; or
(E) a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or
(F) a person who is performing a governmental function under claim of
right although not legally qualified to do so.2
A public servant acts under color of office or employment if the servant acts or purports to act in an official capacity or takes advantage of such actual or purported capacity.3
"Intentionally" means that a person acts intentionally with respect to the nature of the conduct or to a result of the conduct when it is the person's conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result.4
1. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-403(a).
2. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-403(b).
3. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-401(3).
4. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(18).
1. Official oppression is a Class E felony. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-403(c).