Entrapment question.

[dontheox]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I have heard of this supposed legal loophole in movies and in real life, "If you are a cop you have to tell me otherwise it is entrapment." What is the point of being undercover if all the criminal has to do is say that phrase?

I read the legal definition of entrapment and as I understand it, as long as the officer dose not intice the the person into commiting the crime the undercover cop dose not have to reveal he is an officer undercover.

Am I right or wrong about this?

Please explain in detail so I can prove my arguement.

Thank you in advance.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I have heard of this supposed legal loophole in movies and in real life, "If you are a cop you have to tell me otherwise it is entrapment." What is the point of being undercover if all the criminal has to do is say that phrase?

I read the legal definition of entrapment and as I understand it, as long as the officer dose not intice the the person into commiting the crime the undercover cop dose not have to reveal he is an officer undercover.

Am I right or wrong about this?

Please explain in detail so I can prove my arguement.

Thank you in advance.

quit watching so much TV.

 

[HomeGuru]

and quit watching cartoons.

 

[outonbail]

The police never lie. Just ask him or her if they are a cop and they will always tell you. If they're not, you can break out the bong and talk about all your prior criminal activities!

If they are the police, they must read you your Miranda rights or your case will always be tossed out of court.

Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

They can never search you, your home or your vehicle without your consent or a warrant. If they do, your case will be tossed out of court.

They must always show you your speed on the radar gun or the ticket will be tossed out of court.

I'm a high priced criminal defense attorney currently representing one of California’s death row inmates, who didn’t show up for his shot yesterday and your checks in the mail! :eek

 

[Kane]

Many people think if you ask, a cop has to tell you he's a cop.

It's an urban myth. Undercover cops don't have to tell people they're cops.

 

[dontheox]

Thank you Kane for the answer.

To all the other smart alecs,

Please don't quit your day jobs you guys would starve as comics.

 

[OGofCRIMINALLAW]

Don, a lotta things on tv are misleading when it comes to the justice system and the po-po. You always see the perp running his damn mouth too instead of shutting up, implying that's the thing to do. WRONG.

Entrapment can be suspect but it's not ILLEGAL for cops to do so. Sure it can offer up a strategy/reason for a defense but doesn't work for ya unless it truly was and your credibility is good, etc., other things would come in to play in that ruling, like whether you were actually PREDISPOSED to committing the crime anyway (that's what the jury would look at). What they CAN'T do is FORCE, BEAT, COERCE you into doing something illegal.

So the lack of PREDISPOSITION to do the crime would be the main factor here. In other words, your basic INNONCENCE.

There's an old saying that it's okay for the police to TRAP people as long as they dont ENTRAP them. Whatever.

Prolly the biggest factor in all this potential for entrapment would be your character anyway. So just be a good boy, eat all your veggies and help old ladies across the street.

 

[CdwJava]

Many people think if you ask, a cop has to tell you he's a cop.

It's an urban myth. Undercover cops don't have to tell people they're cops.

Heck, unless we are acting at that moment as a cop and the law requires us to ID ourselves in a situation (such as when attempting an arrest when off duty or in plain clothes), we don't have to tell anyone we are a cop. My greatest fear is that I'll be at a restaurant with my kids and it'll get held up by some yay-hoo, and then one of my little boys will yell out, "Daddy! You're a policeman, aren't you going to arrest him?"

Ugh!

Cops get killed when they get ID'd as such by bad guys. It's why many cops who have been around a few years rarely travel with their badge or department ID unless they are also packing. Every year there are stories of officers getting held up at gunpoint, having their wallets taken, and then getting shot when the bad guy finds a badge or ID card in the wallet. (My wallet has neither ... and even when I'm carrying a gun, my ID card is 'cleverly' concealed where a typical mugger wouldn't get it.)

- Carl