Should You Use the Entrapment Defense in a Drug Case?
“I didn’t do it” is not the only possible defense to criminal charges, especially not where illegal drugs are involved. If police find drugs in your car, it is hard to argue that you do not have drugs in your car, although it may be possible to argue that you did not know that they were there or that the crime lab falsely identified the substance as an illegal drug. Likewise, you might be able to argue that there was no probable cause for the search, and therefore the police violated your Fourth Amendment rights by finding the drugs. Law enforcement agencies often use undercover officers to find evidence of drug crimes, but if you get arrested for a drug offense as a result of an interaction with an undercover cop, it does not always mean that you have been caught red handed in the act of whatever the state is accusing you of doing. The entrapment defense, in which you claim that a law enforcement agent coerced you into committing a crime, is sometimes applicable in drug cases involving undercover officers. Even though a Google search for “entrapment” might make it sound like, in the event of a drug deal with an undercover cop, your only options are a plea deal or the entrapment defense, the circumstances where the entrapment defense works are quite limited. To find out more about the best defenses to use after a drug transaction with an undercover police officer, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.
The Entrapment Defense Works If Undercover Cops Bully You Into Accepting Drugs From Them
In a possession with intent to distribute, an entrapment case might go like this. An undercover officer and a defendant exchange text messages about a shipment of drugs that the officer claims he has just received. The defendant expresses interest in buying a single dose of drugs, and the officer instead offers to give the defendant a large fraction of the shipment for resale. When the defendant refuses, the officer makes another offer that would yield the defendant more money for reselling the same quantity of drugs, or even threatens to report the defendant to the police if he refuses to participate. The defendant eventually agrees and travels to meet the officer to receive the drugs. This is entrapment because, if not for the officer’s insistence, the defendant would have only bought a single dose. At worst, the defendant would be guilty of simple possession, not possession with intent to distribute.
The Entrapment Defense Does Not Work If a Big Stash of Drugs Was Already in Your Possession
The entrapment defense does not apply when an undercover officer simply offers the defendant an opportunity to commit a crime. Even elementary school students know to “just say no” when their peers try to pressure them into breaking the law.
Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases
A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are being accused of buying drugs from an undercover police officer. Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0777/Sections/0777.201.html
