Understanding Entrapment
Hi, this is Oklahoma attorney Stuart Ericson. Today we’re going to talk about one of the defenses to an alleged crime. If you’re charged with a crime, there are certain defenses. Of course, the most obvious one is self-defense, but there is a defense of entrapment.
And that is basically where a person has no previous intent or purpose. They have no intent to break a law or commit a crime, but they’re instigated or induced, or persuaded by law enforcement to do so. So of course, on the flip side, if a person has some sort of readiness or willingness or kind of wants to commit a crime and law enforcement is there and maybe entices in some way, then that will not be a defense. So the defense really is, I have no intent to commit a crime, but through law enforcement’s instigation and persuasion, I do, then that could be the defense of entrapment.
Examples and Burden of Proof
So let’s say an example is you’re on the street and undercover law enforcement officers come up to you, have a bag of drugs and they want you to sell it. And before any contact with law enforcement, you had never dreamed of doing something like that. That could be the defense of, you could exercise the defense of entrapment. Always will be very fact specific. And as with every affirmative defense, the defense has to raise it.
The defense has to offer up the defense of entrapment. So you’d have to produce sufficient evidence of entrapment. So you’d have to produce evidence that, yeah, you had contact with law enforcement. Here is what they said. Here’s how I reacted. So you have to throw that out there. You have to put up some evidence sufficient and then the defense comes into play. Then the burden of proof switches to the prosecution, to the state of Oklahoma. They would have to show that it was not, that there was no entrapment. So that’s how that would work.
Contact Us
Entrapment is an interesting one. Again, it comes down to that mindset that you have to give evidence of. If you want more information or need a Wagoner County criminal defense lawyer, contact me at wagonerlawyer.com.
