The defense of entrapment is something that many people have heard about, yet few people fully understand. Typically, people think about entrapment when someone is arrested for committing a drug or sex crime, especially during law enforcement “sting” operations. Some people mistakenly believe that any time a police officer or other government official “sets up” a situation in which a person commits a crime, (such as soliciting a prostitute or selling drugs), there automatically is a case of entrapment. This is simply not true, and, unfortunately, this mistaken belief may provide some criminal defendants with the false hope of getting their charges reduced or dismissed.
In reality, true cases of entrapment are actually quite rare. Law enforcement officials are well aware that if they cross the line between merely providing an individual with an opportunity to engage in criminal activity and convincing an individual to commit a crime through the use of persuasion, then their case will not succeed. Texas uses an objective standard to determine whether entrapment has occurred in any particular case. In applying the objective standard, the courts look at the actions of the police officers and any individuals that were working under the officers’ direction in carrying out the scenario that led to the purported entrapment. If the court determines that the actions of the officers and/or the individuals assisting them were calculated to induce, seduce, coerce, or otherwise cause someone to commit a crime, then a defense of entrapment may be successful.
Examples of inappropriate action by law enforcement include sexual favors, excessive financial incentives, and repeated requests combined with emotionally charged stories. Perhaps the best way to explain entrapment is to distinguish situations where entrapment actually occurs from situations in which a person is merely afforded an opportunity to commit a crime and freely chooses to do so. For example, if an undercover police officer asks a person multiple times over the course of a few weeks if he can buy drugs from them, and eventually asserts that he wants to buy the drugs so that he can give them to his mother, who has only days to live and is in extreme pain, than an entrapment defense may succeed because of the officer’s over-the-top behavior. On the other hand, if an undercover police officer dresses like a prostitute and stands near the street, and a someone drives over to where she is standing and asks her how much money it would cost for him to have sex with her, that individual will probably not be successful in asserting an entrapment defense because the undercover officer merely provided an opportunity for the crime of soliciting prostitution to occur.
If you have been charged with a drug crime or a sex crime and you feel as though you were coerced, bullied, badgered, or otherwise strong-armed into committing an unlawful act, you may be able to use the defense of entrapment. A knowledgeable Longview criminal defense attorney like Alex Tyra can help you to determine whether the defense of entrapment is available to your particular case. Call our Longview office for a free consultation, at (903) 753-7499, or submit a case contact form via our law firm website.
