Also known as: entrapment defences · entrapment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A defense to criminal liability that bars conviction when a law enforcement official or cooperating person induces or encourages the defendant to commit an offense by making knowingly false representations about its legality or by using methods of persuasion that create a substantial risk the offense will be committed by persons not ready to commit it.
Edward Everett ran a small solar firm. An investigator posing as a consultant urged him for months to bypass utility meters on a commercial job. The investigator repeatedly assured Edward that utilities tolerated the practice and that the work was permitted. Edward initially refused but eventually agreed after sustained pressure and was arrested.
Ezra Eastman faced bribery charges after an agent offered him payments to steer contracts. Ezra admitted the acts but claimed entrapment. The agent had made repeated false statements that the payments were lawful consulting fees and had used sustained persuasion that would have induced a person not ready to accept bribes.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Esther Eisenberg operated a small hotel. An undercover marshal repeatedly visited her and urged her to exceed occupancy limits while falsely claiming temporary waivers existed. Esther resisted at first but later complied after continued pressure and false assurances.
Erika Echevarria was charged after an informant arranged a transaction. She sought the informant's identity to support an entrapment claim. The informant had used methods of persuasion creating a substantial risk that a person not ready to commit the offense would do so.
Elliot Edmonds asserted entrapment after an informant set up a narcotics deal. He moved for disclosure of the informant's identity because the informant was the only person who could confirm the extent of government inducement. The informant had employed persuasion creating substantial risk for persons not ready to commit the offense.
Eileen Epstein was prosecuted after an agent supplied materials and pressed her to complete a transaction. She raised entrapment and presented evidence that the agent's tactics overcame her initial reluctance. The court placed the burden on Eileen to prove the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.
The court decides the issue of entrapment outside the presence of the jury after the defendant proves the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.
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No. The Supreme Court has held that a government agent supplying material or contraband used in the crime does not by itself amount to entrapment.
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The defense is unavailable when causing or threatening bodily injury is an element of the charged offense and the prosecution rests on conduct causing or threatening such injury to a person other than the one who perpetrated the entrapment.
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No. A defendant may assert an entrapment defense even while denying participation in the charged offense.
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…See L. Tiffany, D. McIntyre & D. Rotenberg, Detection of Crime: Stopping and Questioning, Search and Seizure, Encouragement and Entrapment 18-56 (1967). This sort of police conduct may, for example, be designed simply to help an intoxicated person find his way home, with no intention of arresting him unless he becomes…