California Private Investigator Practice Exam

The term that describes a situation where a defendant is induced to commit a crime that they would not ordinarily commit is entrapment. Entrapment typically involves a law enforcement officer or agent creating a scenario that pressures or encourages an individual to engage in illegal activity, thereby transforming what might have been a mere idea into actual criminal conduct.

In legal contexts, proving entrapment involves demonstrating that the defendant was not predisposed to commit the crime and that the actions of the law enforcement officer were a significant factor in leading them to do so. This principle exists to prevent the government from enticing individuals into criminal behavior they would otherwise not engage in, acknowledging the importance of ethical law enforcement practices.

In contrast, duress refers to situations where a person commits a crime due to threats of immediate harm, coercion involves compulsion by force or intimidation more generally, and conspiracy pertains to the agreement between two or more parties to commit a crime, which is not necessarily related to whether one party was induced to commit the act.