Entrapment is used in criminal proceedings when the accused has been induced by law enforcement to commit a crime that he/she was not predisposed to commit. It is based on the idea that is it is fundamentally unjust for law enforcement or other government agents to originate a criminal design, implant in an innocent person’s mind the disposition to carry out that criminal design, and then induce commission of the crime so that a prosecution may take place. State v. Perez, 438 So. 2d 436, 438 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983).
There are two types of entrapment recognized in Florida law-subjective and objective entrapment. Both will lead to a Not Guilty verdict is successfully argued in court. The relevant statute (777.201) states the following:
1) A law enforcement officer, a person engaged in cooperation with a law enforcement officer, or a person acting as an agent of a law enforcement officer perpetrates an entrapment if, for the purpose of obtaining evidence of the commission of a crime, he or she induces or encourages and, as a direct result, causes another person to engage in conduct constituting such crime by employing methods of persuasion or inducement which create a substantial risk that such crime will be committed by a person other than one who is ready to commit it.