Entrapment is one of the few defenses which are “affirmative defenses”. In cases such as drug trafficking, and conspiracy to sell or deliver cocaine, an affirmative defense is a law created avoidance of the charges. It bars conviction.
Entrapment is based on the due process rights created in both the Florida and U.S. constitution. In Florida criminal courts a subjective and objective entrapment defense can be raised. Objective defenses are argued before the judge, without the jury, and involve allegations of outrageous police actions, such as when the police take cocaine they seized from dealers, take it to a police laboratory, turn it into crack cocaine, then release it for use in sting operations. Subjective entrapment, a jury issue, argues that the accused was not looking for or seeking to commit the crime, that the opportunity was brought to him/her by the police or an agent (confidential informant), had no history of that particular crime, and was brought into the criminal enterprise by inducements engineered by the police or a police agent (confidential informant). If you believe you have been entrapped contact a South Florida criminal defense attorney and ask for a meeting to explore the current state of entrapment law in Florida criminal courts, such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.