Asked 4/5/2016 – Austin, TX

Can you tell me what entrapment is? Does it happen when a police officer doesn’t give you information about a crime or let you leave a crime investigation/scene if the records or your being able to leave would have prevented you from committing the offense to begin with? It wouldn’t have happened if the police had given them the information initially or throughout their investigation of the offense. What if the person kept reporting the crime to the police but they wouldn’t take it seriously to investigate it or they would respond with false or misleading/no information that would have prevented the crime from happening if they had chosen to tell the person about it? How does a person get out of a situation like this or even find out if they are being investigated/have complaints for anything if you cannot get an honest answer?

Answer

Texas Penal Code Section 8.06 – Entrapment. “It is defense to prosecution that the actor engaged in the conduct charged because he was induced to do so by a law enforcement agent using persuasion or other means likely to cause persons to commit the offense. Conduct merely affording a person an opportunity to commit an offense does not constitute entrapment.” It doesn’t sound like entrapment from what you describe, but there are other issues. Contact a local attorney soon.