A criminal charge can potentially change your entire life. It can shape your ability to find employment and the way that other people see you. For some Californians charged with crimes, the charge itself is unfair. This is true if the officer behaved wrongly or committed entrapment. According to the United States Department of Justice, when government agents implant the disposition to commit a criminal act and induce the commission of a crime, he or she is guilty of entrapment.
Entrapment is not a simple concept. Police can lie to suspects and often need to as an investigation technique. How do you know when an officer crosses into entrapment territory? Solicitation and inducement are the keys to deciding an entrapment case. An officer may solicit a crime.
Inducement, on the other hand, involves a police officer goading or convincing someone to act criminally. Often, this is a person who is innocent and would not otherwise commit a crime. The officer may reach as far as to convince the you that your actions are not a crime. Cops should never sway your mind into committing a criminal act. When the offers create the risk of a crime, rather than soliciting a crime that will happen, it falls under the umbrella of entrapment.
If an officer offers a criminal opportunity, such as drug sales or a theft opportunity and you willfully accept or promptly jump on the opportunity, it is solicitation. If he or she plants the idea in your head and then convinces you to do it, he or she may be inducing the crime.
None of the above is considered legal advice. It is for educational purposes only.
