Criminal Law—Derivative Entrapment Defense Applies When Government Agent Acts Through Unsuspecting Middleman to Induce Targeted Defendant—United States v. Luisi, 482 F.3d 43 (1st Cir. 2007)

First Circuit Review 2008

The entrapment defense is a judicially created protection mechanism against police activity that improperly induces a non-predisposed individual to commit a crime.  In some jurisdictions, the derivative entrapment defense is available when a government agent directs an unsuspecting third party to pressure a targeted individual into breaking the law.  In United States v. Luisi, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit examined the degree of government inducement required to prove derivative entrapment.  The court held that a government agent must have “requested, encouraged, or instructed” the intermediary to improperly induce a specifically targeted individual who is not predisposed to commit the crime in question.  In support of its holding, the court cited policy concerns adapted from United States v. Bradley. . . .