Describe the Elements of the Defense of Entrapment and the Types

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The Answer is The defense of entrapment is based on the idea that a person should not be held criminally responsible for an offense if the idea to commit the crime was planted in their mind by law enforcement. In order to successfully argue entrapment, the defendant must show that they were induced to commit the crime by the police or government agents. This inducement can take the form of persuasion, trickery, or fraud.

There are two elements to the defense of entrapment: subjective and objective. The subjective element focuses on the defendant's state of mind and whether they were predisposed to commit the crime. If the defendant can show that they had no intention of committing the crime before being induced by law enforcement, they may have a valid entrapment defense. The objective element looks at the conduct of the police or government agents and whether their actions would have induced a law-abiding person to commit the crime.

However, not all police activity is considered entrapment. For example, providing an opportunity to commit a crime, such as leaving a car unlocked with valuables inside to catch a thief, is not considered entrapment. Similarly, using undercover agents to pose as criminals and offer opportunities to commit a crime is also not entrapment, as long as the defendant was already predisposed to commit the crime. In these cases, the police are not inducing the crime but merely providing an opportunity for the defendant to act on their own criminal intent.

Describe the Elements of the Defense of Entrapment and the Types

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