When is committing a crime not really a crime? Or when is a perpetrator not at fault for their wrongdoing?
In some cases, innocent people are coerced into committing crimes, often referred to legally as entrapment. But there’s a fine line between entrapment and committing a punishable crime, which can make entrapment cases confusing to the average person.
Learn about entrapment and what can be considered entrapment here.
What Is Entrapment?
Criminal entrapment occurs when someone is coerced or manipulated into committing a crime by police officers or government personnel (including undercover agents). Law enforcement officers may use a variety of tactics, such as harassment and persistent persuasion, in order to manipulate someone into an unlawful act.
For police involvement to be entrapment, they must go beyond a basic sting operation. Going undercover and busting someone committing a crime they would have committed anyway does not count as entrapment.
But when someone commits a crime only in response to the government agent’s coercion, they may be able to use entrapment as a defense.
Examples of Entrapment
Entrapment does occur, though it’s not common. Remember, a sting operation or a police officer hiding their identity to catch criminals in the act is not entrapment.
But there are some instances where entrapment can take place, and these cases sometimes even make it all the way to the Supreme Court.
One example is from 1992 in the Jacobson v. United States case. Jacobson was targeted for over two years by the government in the form of persistent mailings and communications pressuring him to purchase child pornography. He eventually succumbed to the communications, but there was no proof that he would’ve done so without government interference, bringing the concept of entrapment into the spotlight.
Other examples of entrapment include:
- an undercover officer begging a citizen for months to buy drugs
- a police officer using force or violence to pressure someone into committing a lewd act
- an undercover FBI agent claiming they or someone else will die if the citizen doesn’t sell them prescription drugs
- an undercover officer harassing someone into shoplifting
Note that these examples all involve government agents, not regular citizens. If one citizen pressures another into committing a crime, it doesn’t fit the definition of entrapment.
Creating an Entrapment Defense
An entrapment defense may apply to drug cases and other criminal charges, depending on the objective or subjective standard.
According to the objective standard, jurors must judge if an officer persuaded someone to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn’t have committed. And in the case of the subjective standard, jurors determine if someone has a predisposition to commit a crime independent of the officer’s involvement.
Working with an experienced lawyer can help you create a strong entrapment defense to protect yourself in the courtroom.
Free Yourself From Entrapment
It’s not fair to be cornered into a crime, even if the ones cornering are government agents themselves. And that’s where an entrapment defense could help you protect and defend yourself.
If you think you’ve experienced entrapment and are being charged with a crime, contact a lawyer who can help you scrub your record and get your life back on track.
For more on legal defense and law, check out our other informative blog posts!
