Photo Of Kyle B. Sawyer
Photo Of Kyle B. Sawyer

Charged With A Crime? It Doesn’t Mean You’re Guilty.

Entrapment As A Defense

Entrapment As A Defense In Colorado, C.R.S. 18-1-709

In Colorado counties such as Denver, Douglas and Arapahoe counties, a law enforcement official (police or sheriff) or other person acting under their direction might trick you into saying or doing something that you would not normally do or say. When this happens, and you are tricked into committing a criminal act, prosecutors will try to use this evidence at trial to convict you of serious criminal charges. What prosecutors don’t want you to know is that there is an affirmative defense strategy called “entrapment,” which your lawyer can use at trial to dismiss all charges against you.

Elements Of The Entrapment Affirmative Defense

C.R.S. 18-1-709 defines entrapment as “The commission of acts which would otherwise constitute an offense is not criminal if the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct because he was induced to do so by a law enforcement official or other person acting under his direction, seeking to obtain evidence for the purpose of prosecution, and the methods used to obtain that evidence were such as to create a substantial risk that the acts would be committed by a person who, but for such inducement, would not have conceived of or engaged in conduct of the sort induced. Merely affording a person an opportunity to commit an offense is not entrapment even though representations or inducements calculated to overcome the offender’s fear of detection are used.” The law enforcement official will probably have been undercover at the time, and may have even told you to complete the action, or tricked you into saying something.

This affirmative defense law means that if you were tricked into doing or saying something that qualifies as a criminal offense, and it was not the sort of thing you’d have normally done, then your act should not be considered criminal. At trial, this defense requires you to first admit to the jury that you committed the unlawful conduct and then rely entirely on the entrapment defense for your acquittal. Your experienced criminal defense lawyer will know the procedural rules to successfully use this defense.

Experienced Entrapment Attorneys Fighting For You

Entrapment happens throughout Colorado counties, like Jefferson, Broomfield, and Adams counties, when law enforcement officials seek to create evidence in criminal cases. If you are being charged with a crime caused by a law enforcement official’s entrapment, don’t let them get away with punishing you for something they trapped you into doing. Call our experienced entrapment lawyers today at Sawyer Legal Group, LLC, at 303-731-0719. Together, we can protect your future.

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