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entrapment

law
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entrapment, in law, instigation or inducement of a person into the commission of a crime by an officer of the law.

Entrapment does not include situations in which the officer has not instigated the offense but merely provided the opportunity or occasion for its commission. Thus, the use of deceptions, tricks, decoys, informers, and undercover operators, in order to convict a criminal offender, does not in itself constitute entrapment.

The doctrine has received its most frequent application in cases of liquor violations and narcotics and gambling offenses. The courts have taken the view that offenders who have been led into criminal acts by law-enforcement personnel are not guilty.