Originally posted by Geezmeister
The law on entrapment has not changed. Officers have always been allowed to create an opportunity for one who has the predisposition to commit a crime
to commit the crime. What the law does not allow is for the officer to encourage or entice someone who lacks the propensity to commit the crime to
commit the crime.
One of the classic examples arises from the prohibition era, when a cop went to get some whiskey from an old soldier, told him they were in the same
unit in France, and asked him to get him some whiskey. The old soldier said he didn't drink anymore, and didn't care to violate the law. The cop,
acting like a fellow soldier, began to talk about the war and the troubles they went through, and begged the old soldier to get him some whiskey, and
the old soldier did. The case was dismissed on entrapment grounds. The old soldier did not have the propensity to commit the crime but was persuaded
to commit it by the officer.
We have in my state the concept of sentence entrapment as well. This occurs when police persuade someone to do a bigger deal than they otherwise would
be willing to do, which brings them into a more serious level of punishment. The police approach someone who will provide an eight ball of meth... the
cops pressure him to bring twenty grams instead, he resists, they pressure him to do the bigger deal, he does, and is charged with trafficking.
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