How do I prove criminal entrapment?

The primary goal of law enforcement is to protect American citizens against crime. It may be surprising to learn than nearly 3.1 percent of the U.S. population is currently incarcerated. While many of these offenders belong in jail, innocent people are wrongly convicted every day. On occasion, the police use a variety of techniques to catch criminals, which may border on entrapment. The government is allowed to set up certain types of sting operations to snare offenders, but they are not allowed to induce anyone into committing a crime that they would not ordinarily be prone to do. Criminal entrapment occurs when law enforcement officers employ deception and trickery to entice innocent people into breaking the law.

Using Entrapment As a Defense Strategy

Criminal entrapment is a valid defense that can be used to fight criminal charges. To prove entrapment, the individual must be able to show that they were induced when the police used one of the following methods to lure them into committing a crime:

• Persuasion
• Threats of any kind
• Coercion
• Repeated harassment
• Pressured the person by appealing to them on the basis of friendship
• Offered compensation in exchange for engaging in illegal activity
• Initiated the criminal activity

Defendants will need to prove that the conduct of the government created the situation in which a normal law-abiding citizen was forced to commit an offense. The second part of a criminal entrapment defense is to show that the defendant lacked a predisposition to engage in criminal conduct and only did so because the police used entrapment techniques.

Getting Criminal Charges Dismissed

The justice system believes that reasonable presented with an opportunity to commit a crime will usually resist such temptation. While criminal entrapment is a valid defense, the burden of poof is actually on the defendant to prove that the police are guilty. Anytime you are facing criminal charges, hiring a skilled criminal defense attorney should be your top priority. These legal professionals know the laws and understand what may constitute entrapment. If they are successful in proving that you were indeed the victim of entrapment, all charges against you will be dismissed.