Legal Corner

Well.....
sidone 6356 reads
posted

mrfisher is close, but I wouldn't call him "spot on".  Entrapment involves a lot more than merely "suggesting to an otherwise law abiding citizen that he/she commit a crime."  It involves applying so much pressure that the defendant commits a crime he would otherwise have been unwilling to commit.  Suggesting a crime that the defendant then commits willingly isn't entrapment, which is why stings like the one in the NY Times article are legal.

Entrapment only is a defense if the person was not inclined to commit the crime before being encouraged by the police.  If the defendant is inclined to commit the crime and runs across the police offer, it is not entrapment.  That is why cops can set up as fake drug dealers for a sting.

Before you get upset about the general principal, remember that the same rule is used to bust people you don't like.  For example, cops often set up stings posing as kids to get child molestors.  Also they will set up fake ads for child porn and arrest those who try to purchase.

This article was widely circulated here on TER and elsewhere shortly after it appeared.

Any regular reader of this or practically any other board is familiar with this police tactic.  Sadly LE is now expanding from CL to other boards as well.

It is not entrapment, however.  Entrapment is the process of suggesting to an otherwise law abiding citizen that he/she commit a crime.
In this case, the perp, (That's we.) is going about attempting to commit a crime of solicitation being unaware that the person to whom they are soliciting is, in fact, LE; or at least that's what LE is going to tell the judge and jury.

What ever you want to call it, I call it a waste of the tax payers' dollars and a crying shame.

(still not a lawyer)

levendi6382 reads

Mr Fisher (who should be a lawyer) nails it spot on...not entrapment and definitely a crying shame.

sidone6357 reads

mrfisher is close, but I wouldn't call him "spot on".  Entrapment involves a lot more than merely "suggesting to an otherwise law abiding citizen that he/she commit a crime."  It involves applying so much pressure that the defendant commits a crime he would otherwise have been unwilling to commit.  Suggesting a crime that the defendant then commits willingly isn't entrapment, which is why stings like the one in the NY Times article are legal.

levendi8229 reads

I love it when a post forces me to do some checking and I must say thank you to sideone for making me break a sweat....according to Mathews v. U.S., a valid entrapment defense has two related elements: 1. government inducement of a crime and 2. the defendant's lack of predisposition to commit the crime. Inducement is the threshold issue in the entrapment defense; mere solicitation (i.e. the ad)to commit a crime is not inducement (Sorrells v. U.S.); nor does the Government's use of artifice, statagem, pretense, or deceit establish inducement; rather, inducement does require a showing by the defendant of at least persuasion or mild coercion by the government (U.S. v. Nations); the source I read also states that "of the two elements necessary to successfully put forth a defense of entrapment, predisposition to commit the crime is by far the most important" (Mathews v. U.S.); the predisposition inquiry focuses upon whether the defendant was "an unwary innocent" or merely "an unwary criminal who readily availed himself of the opportunity to perpetrate the crime."  Translation:  if you were looking at provider ads and happened to run across one that was planted by LE, you can hardly claim that you were not predisposed to commit the crime...thanks again for making me work, sideone, and, hopefully, we all now have a more in depth understanding of what constitutes entrapment....

It always pays to see a pro.

Thanks to both Sidone and Levendi.

Getting busted, even if it doesn't stick, can ruin your life. The best thing to do id not put yourself in the position in the first place.  Stick with known and well reviewed ladies. It's tempting to go shopping on Craig's list when the last minute hornies hit you but it's just too risky, especially when you are thinking with the little head!

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