The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 12: I Was Entrapped!
Entrapment pg 20: Subjective and Objective
It doesn’t matter which test is applied to Cora, however. She was already perfectly willing to engage in prostitution. The undercover cop didn’t have anything to do with it.
And he didn’t do anything that would have made a regular Jane take up the profession against her own principles.
Counsel talking to Cora in the cells
COUNSEL
So can we stop talking about entrapment, Cora, and please focus on what I maybe can do to help you?
Counsel looks offscreen at the other defendants
COUNSEL
And as for the REST of you…
What if the police officer offered $100,000 for sex? Enough that a significant portion of the female population would think of doing it, is that entrapment?
that has got to be entrapment. Especially if the cop showed the money, I think almost anyone would agree to it. I certainly would.
Very old joke:
“Would you sleep with me for $100,000?”
“Yes!”
“Would you for $20?”
“What kind of woman do you take me for?”
“We’ve already established that. Now we’re only haggling over the price.”
Increasing the payout isn’t entrapment — you were clearly willing to commit the crime, just not for the lower price. Entrapment involves tricking or forcing you to do something you wouldn’t have otherwise done.
To illustrate, change the crime to one of stealing from your employer. The cop says “steal this thing for me, and I’ll give you $20.” And you say no; stealing is wrong. Then the cop says “steal it for me, and I’ll give you $100,000.” And you say “where do you want it delivered.” That’s not entrapment, just negotiating your fee. You’re still a criminal.
So what if Cora has a change of heart before she takes the money, and tells the undercover cop that she will no longer be a call girl. Then the cop somehow convinces her to do it one last time. At what point does the cop’s method of convincing her become entrapment?
That all depends on how the cop convinces her to do the job. If he says “pretty please with sugar on top” and that is enough to convince her, then it is not entrapment. If he says “Do it, or else I will murder you” then it is entrapment. If he says “If you won’t do it, then someone else will. So you might as well be the one to do it and make that money.” Then it is debatable whether that constitutes entrapment or not.
Which is ridiculous, really. You keep increasing the payoff, you’ll get a larger and larger fraction of the population going for it, especially for harmless crimes like delivering a package or sleeping with a dude. At some point, it just comes down to the mark the cops happened to pick. Making criminals just to arrest them is kinda like the fire brigade setting peoples houses on fire for job security. It’s not about helping society at all by that point.
I don’t know if this is actually true, though. Only a complete moron would believe that a stranger truly intended to give them a million dollars in exchange for sex or delivering a package.
If a stranger actually made me an offer like that, I’d certainly run the other way, and fast.