MBE Rules · Criminal Law
Entrapment
Entrapment
The rule
Under the majority subjective test, entrapment requires government inducement plus a defendant not predisposed to commit the crime; merely providing an opportunity is not inducement.
In plain English
Entrapment occurs when law enforcement induces a person to commit a crime they would not have otherwise committed. For a successful entrapment defense under the subjective test, the defendant must show that they were not predisposed to commit the crime before the government's involvement.
Worked example
A police officer poses as a drug dealer and convinces a shy individual, who has never used or sold drugs, to sell a small amount of marijuana. The individual only agrees after persistent pressure from the officer. In this case, the defense of entrapment is likely to succeed because the individual was not predisposed to commit the crime.
Memory hook
Inducement plus no predisposition equals entrapment.
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where students confuse mere opportunity with inducement, leading them to incorrectly analyze the entrapment defense.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve fact patterns where a defendant is approached by law enforcement to commit a crime, testing the student's understanding of predisposition and inducement.
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