New York Law (NYLE) Practice Exam

What must a defendant demonstrate to effectively claim entrapment?

1. They were coerced at gunpoint

2. The police induced them to commit the crime

3. They were unaware of the law

4. They were intoxicated at the time

The correct answer is: The police induced them to commit the crime

To effectively claim entrapment, a defendant must demonstrate that law enforcement officers induced them to commit a crime that they would not have otherwise committed. This means that the actions or conduct of the police went beyond merely providing an opportunity to commit a crime and instead involved persuading or luring the defendant into committing the offense. The legal principle behind this is that entrapment is based on the idea that a law enforcement officer may not create a crime where none would have occurred. This defense demonstrates a concern for unjust government conduct and protects individuals from being caught in a trap set by authorities that push them into criminal behavior. The other options do not adequately capture the essence of the entrapment defense. Coercion at gunpoint is an extreme example of duress, which is a different legal defense involving direct threat of harm. Unawareness of the law pertains to a lack of knowledge concerning legal statutes and does not relate to the inducement aspect of entrapment. Being intoxicated may affect a person's judgment but does not automatically infer that they were induced by the police, failing to fulfill the specific requirement of inducement necessary to substantiate an entrapment claim.