Entrapment
In jurisprudence, entrapment is a procedural defense via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were induced (or entrapped) by the police to commit said acts. For the defense to be successful, the defendant must demonstrate that the police induced an otherwise unwilling person to commit a crime. However, when a person is predisposed to commit a crime, offering opportunities to commit the crime is not entrapment.
Entrapment is an issue that must be considered in designing sting operations.
John De Lorean was arrested in 1982 for selling cocaine to undercover police; in court, De Lorean argued that the police had asked him to sell them the cocaine (and threatened him as a form of coercion); he was found "not guilty". De Lorean's attorney stated in Time (March 19, 1984), "This [was] a fictitious crime. Without the Government, there would be no crime."
The defense of entrapment was unsuccessful in the Abscam operation in which which several Congressmen were convicted of bribery.
External link
- http://slate.msn.com/id/1003657/
Alternate use: Entrapment 1999 movie starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Referenced By
1999 film | 1999 in film | List of basic criminal justice topics
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