Text 28910, 53 rader
Skriven 2009-03-10 06:43:06 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
  Kommentar till text 28829 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Entrapment
==================
Replying to a message of Dale Shipp to Robert Bashe:

 RB>> In such a case, I woulkd think the first thing that would have to be
 RB>> cleared  up is the definition of "unlikely", since the whole 
 RB>> "entrapment" business depends on that. Whether you call it  a
 RB>> "sting" or "entrapment" would largely appear to be a  matter of the
 RB>> viewpoint to me, and I'd hate to the judge  (or a member of the
 RB>> jury) trying to judge such a case.

 DS> That is what case law is all about.

 RB>> Whatever the word, I think this is something that gets into 
 RB>> very esoteric legal territory.

 DS> Yes it does, and the police are given very careful instructions on
 DS> what they can and cannot do to achieve a good arrest and to not be
 DS> themselves guilty of entrapment.

 RB>> The problem is simply that the legal definition (if that's 
 RB>> what you cited above) is not necessarily obvious or 
 RB>> understandable to a legal layperson. It's a little like 
 RB>> manslaughter and (non-premeditated) murder: whether it's 
 RB>> one or the other, the victim is still dead. Now decide on 
 RB>> the punishment.

 DS> The distinction is reasonably clear to me as to what constitutes
 DS> entrapment here in the US.  And it is also clear that entrapment is
 DS> not legal in the US.

 RB>> Incidently, I wasn't referring to Michiel's permanent gripe
 RB>> - as far as I'm concerned that was a cut and dry case. But 
 RB>> was it a "sting" or "entrapment" <beg>?

 DS> From every thing I have read and heard about the case Michiel keeps
 DS> griping about, it was a legitimate sting operation -- executed on US
 DS> soil by US LEO according to appropriate guidelines.

And how are children in the US protected by luring a foreign national from
his country - where such behavior is apparently legal - to this one in order
to put him in jail.

There was a similar case in Nebraska many years ago.  A physician was
*lured* from Minneapolis to Omaha by an LEO pretending to be a 14 year
old boy.  Said physician was arrested when he arrived at the local mall the LEO
= pretending to be a teenager - specified for a meeting.  I asked at the time
how putting that guy in jail protected the children of Nebraska - sure, getting
that guy off the streets protected the people of Minnesota, but the Nebraska
taxpayers had to foot the bill to do it; it would have been better for that LEO
to tip off a Minneapolis colleague to sucker the guy into a meet in or near
Minneapolis and get the guy arrested, tried and convicted there.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)