When it comes to drug offenses, entrapment is a complete defense. If you never thought to commit a crime before this moment, you could be a victim of entrapment.
The United States Department of Justice is clear about what constitutes entrapment in the United States.
Officers use coercive tactics
Coercive tactics are typical in entrapment. In entrapment, the officer will attempt to persuade you into committing a crime. You could be an innocent person outside of the circumstance. An officer may target you and begin to push you to commit a crime. Now, an officer does have the permission to persuade a person or to use strategies to convince a person to commit a crime. However, he or she cannot blind you to your legal duties. Inducement and promises are a part of coercion.
Ordinary people would react the same
How a person with a criminal disposition acts and how an ordinary person acts are usually different in the case of drug crimes. Most people do not look for trouble and would avoid it if there was a choice. To prove that you were a victim of entrapment, you have to be able to say without a doubt that other people would react similarly. For instance, if someone said asked you to make a drug purchase because he or she would be in danger otherwise, ordinary people might try to help.
Officers who commit entrapment prey on a person’s empathy and friendship. He or she will attempt to play with your emotions. Entrapment is a defense because the government cannot implant the idea of crime into an innocent person.
