ENTRAPMENT

May 9, 2024

Entrapment is legal defense. It occurs when a law enforcement official, such as a police officer, employs fraud, threats or harassment to coerce someone to commit a crime they wouldn’t ordinarily commit. Defendants can be acquitted of the charges if this can be shown in court.

Entrapment is defined by the following :

• The individual accused of entrapment must be a government official, a law enforcement officer, and not a private citizen;
• Inducement or coercion to commit a crime, must be involved, not merely the opportunity to commit a crime.
• The defense must be able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant would not have committed the crime were it not for the inducement or coercion by the agent/official through harassment, fraud, threats, or other illegitimate means.

If these specific parameters are not met, entrapment cannot be used as a valid legal defense. In a case of entrapment, a crime occurs because of such illegitimate acts as:

Inducement

Enticing or persuading someone to take a certain course of action by giving or promising them something of value

Coercion

Causing a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to them or someone important to them.

Threats

Expressed or implied statements of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action to cause fear of harm.

Harassment

Unwanted, uninvited, and unwelcome words or behavior that causes alarm or substantial emotional distress without any legitimate purpose

Fraud

Intentional misrepresentation of fact, which the recipient relies upon to act.

Burden of Proof

Because entrapment isn’t a crime but a defense, the burden of proof falls to the defendant. This means that the defendant must show that entrapment has occurred to claim it as a basis for acquittal.