Understanding Entrapment: Your Legal Rights Explained
Let’s talk about entrapment. Hi, my name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa criminal attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing family and criminal law for almost nine years now. I want to help you make law easy by talking a little bit about entrapment and whether or not it applies to your case.
So the requirements for an entrapment defense are relatively straightforward. They’re found in 8-25 of the Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions, where a person has no previous intent or purpose to violate the law but is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers to commit a crime. He or she is entitled to the defense of entrapment because the law, as a matter of policy, forbids conviction in such a case.
When Entrapment Is Not a Defense
On the other hand, where a person already has the readiness and willingness to break the law, the mere fact that a police officer provides what appears to be a favorable opportunity is no defense. As I’m sure you can imagine, this becomes very, very fact-specific. There’s a fine, almost imperceptible line between police participation and an undercover officer doing what they’re supposed to do and entrapment.
And I say there’s a very fine line because I get cases more often than you would think, where my clients will try to tell me they didn’t do it, they didn’t want to do it, they were pressured into it, or they were talked into it. Nine times out of 10, 99 times out of 100, really. It doesn’t reach the level of coercion or influence for there to be entrapment. But there are times when it can look really weird.
Navigating Complex Legal Scenarios
If you’re in these situations, you’ve got to understand just because law enforcement’s involved and just because law enforcement’s lying to you, that’s not going to be enough. They have to actually coach you through it, force you to do it, or otherwise tell you when and how and what to do for you to commit the crime.
If you’re in a situation where you feel like you’re caught between a rock and a hard place because you were misled by law enforcement, give me a call. We’ll talk about it. We’ll discuss whether or not you have a legitimate defense, and then we’ll figure it out from there.
Schedule Your Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m an Oklahoma felony defense attorney with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. If you need assistance, reach out to us at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session. Let’s work together to find the best legal path forward for your situation.
