What is entrapment?
Entrapment is a legal defense -- like insanity or self-defense -- in which the defendant argues that police caused him/her to commit the crime. In other words, entrapment claims the police conceived the idea for the crime and provided the means, motive and or opportunity for the defendant to do the criminal act.
A famous entrapment case involved John DeLorean, the designer of the eponymous silver sports car featured in the Back to the Future Movies. At the time, DeLorean's car company was in deep financial trouble. Seizing upon this knowledge, FBI agents approached DeLorean, who had no prior criminal record. They convinced him to distribute cocaine promising that the profits would be enough to save the company.
After DeLorean's lawyers raised the entrapment defense, he was found not guilty of illegal drug trafficking.
For laypeople, the concept of entrapment is a common source of confusion. For example, a drug defendant caught in a "buy and bust" sting involving undercover officers could not successfully use the entrapment defense in court. Such a defendant could not credibly claim that he'd otherwise be unable or unwilling to buy drugs elsewhere.
There are several factors that the judge will take into account when deciding an entrapment case, including the defendant's ability to commit the act and whether or not the defendant has committed similar crimes in the past. For example, an entrapment defense will fail if the defendant committed the crime skillfully, because this shows that they know what they are doing.
