Opinion ID: 1992950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: applying the entrapment test

Text: We note that when the defense of entrapment is raised, the trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing outside the presence of the jury. D'Angelo, 401 Mich 183. During this hearing, the defendant will have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he was entrapped. Id. at 182. In its decision, the trial court must make specific findings of fact on the entrapment issue, and its decision will be reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. Id. Only when the defendant can prove that the government agents engaged in activities that would impermissibly manufacture or instigate a crime will the defense of entrapment prevail. People v Jones, 165 Mich App 670, 676-677; 419 NW2d 47 (1988).
Initially, we note, as did the Court of Appeals, the unusual nature of this case. We are faced with a situation where the defendant did not testify at the requested Turner hearing. Therefore, in reviewing this investigation, we must accept the testimony presented by the prosecutor's witnesses and attempt to determine whether a preponderance of the evidence exists to support the defendant's claim that he was entrapped. As did the lower courts, we find most troubling and offensive such a misuse of a citizen  the informant  to whom the prosecution is purporting to be helpful. However, our distaste of such behavior toward the informant cannot deter us from the task of determining whether the use of the informant in this fashion had the effect of causing one not otherwise disposed to commit a crime to do so. [7] Brown should clearly be denied relief under this analysis. It is simply too much to suggest that one not ready and willing to commit a crime, a normally law-abiding person, would respond positively to the conduct of the police here. The investigators did not manufacture any crime, but only, according to the testimony presented, allowed a course of conduct to continue as it had in the past to obtain evidence of a crime. While the investigators' strategy of using a drug-addicted prostitute to gather evidence of the sale of drugs is offensive, a simple contact by a prostitute to exchange sex for drugs would not successfully importune a normally law-abiding person to deliver drugs to the prostitute. The relationship constituting the exchange of drugs for sexual favors was the backdrop in which Brown acceded to Roberts, the prostitute-turned-undercover informant. Each knew what was expected of the other. There were no misunderstandings. The only question would be the defendant's willingness to continue the alleged criminal activities. At the time in question, the time of contact between Roberts and Brown, the solicitation was no different than the many offers made in routine purchases and sales by police informants and undercover agents every day on our streets. Unlike other cases which have found that the defendant was entrapped, there is no suggestion that in the several calls made by Roberts there was any play on sympathy or friendship. People v Graczyk, 156 Mich App 632; 402 NW2d 60 (1986); People v Duis, supra ; People v Soper, 57 Mich App 677; 226 NW2d 691 (1975). To be sure, there was an appeal to whatever addictions were borne by the defendant, as there was an appeal by Brown to the addictions of Roberts. Addictions are at the root of the narcotic trade and are not a lawful excuse for crimes committed in their furtherance. Although courts have found that appeals to sympathy for an addict suffering withdrawal symptoms may indicate entrapment, Graczyk, Duis, supra, we know of no other court that has suggested, nor would we suggest, that an appeal to an addiction, as such, can be a defense amounting to entrapment. Entrapment may also be recognized when unusual pressures are placed on the person to succumb to drugs after rehabilitation, when coupled with an appeal to some other factor recognized as an indicator of reprehensible conduct such as sympathy or friendship. See Turner, supra . Brown has not testified, nor has he argued, that he was addicted to drugs or that he was attempting to overcome an addiction. Furthermore, it was not drugs which he was seeking in his ongoing relationship with Roberts. Courts in other jurisdictions have recognized pressure on the informant as a factor supporting an entrapment defense. See, e.g., Shrader v State, 101 Nev 499; 706 P2d 834 (1985); Commonwealth v Wright, 396 Pa Super 276; 578 A2d 513 (1990). And, in fact, the pressure in this case was on the informant, reinforced by substantial efforts of assistance in solving her problems. We think that the pressure on an informant, while perhaps offensive in its execution, does not amount to pressure on the defendant and does not change the context in which we judge whether the hypothetical or the actual defendant was entrapped. While there was not a great deal of pressure on the defendant, there was some pressure. Roberts did call Brown to arrange meetings between them. Roberts was also the person who always brought up the use of drugs during discussions. Brown, on some occasions, did protest the informant's appeals, saying he was busy and that he did not want to be bothered. Indeed, it sometimes took Roberts several calls before Brown would let her come over to his apartment. However, this pressure did not rise to the level of entrapment. It should be noted that the very first contact between Roberts and Brown, after the thirty-day lapse in communications, ended with Brown agreeing to see Roberts and exchange sex for drugs. One telephone call does not rise to the level of pressure necessary to support an entrapment claim. Furthermore, even Roberts' offer to repay Brown does not support his entrapment claim. While evidence on the record does show that the investigators thought Brown might not see her without the money, this evidence does not indicate that Brown would otherwise have refused to see her or otherwise ended their relationship and does not meet Brown's burden to show entrapment. As previously indicated, other cases have set forth sexual favors as a factor arguing for the availability of the entrapment defense. See Jamieson, supra ; People v Wisneski, 96 Mich App 299; 292 NW2d 196 (1980). However, as the facts of the instant case indicate, the Attorney General's office asked this particular informant to resume contact with Brown, it did not initiate the relationship between the informant and defendant, but only allowed an already existing course of conduct to continue, which the police had reason to believe involved criminal behavior. Not only was this relationship already in existence, but there exists no preponderating evidence to show that the conduct would not have occurred except for the government's intervention. This police conduct would not have induced a similarly situated defendant, who was not otherwise ready and willing to commit the criminal behavior, to commit such an offense. Therefore, we must find that Brown was not entrapped. His convictions, and the judgment, of the Court of Appeals on the question of entrapment, should be affirmed.
In this case, we must again undertake a separate analysis of the facts and circumstances presented by the defendant to determine whether the police conduct would have induced or instigated the commission of the crime with which Juillet is charged by a normally law-abiding person. In undertaking this analysis, we again note that the burden is on the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was entrapped by reprehensible police conduct. D'Angelo, supra . Here, as in Brown, the police were willing to stand by and allow criminal activity to be undertaken by their paid informant. Unlike Brown, however, in this case the police encouraged and were responsible for the instigation of a relationship that previously did not exist and, in the course of doing so, played on a police-manufactured friendship. For that reason, which we find to distinguish these two cases, we find reprehensibility amounting to entrapment. In this situation, we are again cognizant that the defendant frequently used drugs. We must determine whether the facts and circumstances involved in this case would indicate that a normally law-abiding person in Juillet's circumstances would be induced into committing the crime charged because of the actions of the police through their paid informant. The record indicates that Bleser incessantly requested drugs from all those around him, including Juillet. The record also indicates that on at least one occasion, when Juillet could not obtain drugs for the undercover officer and Bleser, the undercover officer drove Bleser and Juillet to at least two other places before Juillet was able to obtain drugs for the undercover officer. Additionally, contrary to the facts in Brown, the police did not focus on Juillet as a specific target, the police did not supervise Bleser's activities, and Juillet, a drug user, was convicted for the elevated crime of delivery and sale of narcotics. Duis, supra at 702. See also People v Rowell, 153 Mich App 99; 395 NW2d 253 (1986) (continuous requests at least two to three times per day to obtain drugs were considered entrapment). Therefore, these factors weigh in favor of Juillet's claim that he was entrapped by reprehensible police conduct. Unlike Brown, the defendant here took the stand during a Turner hearing and presented his version of the facts. The record that was prepared indicates that Juillet felt he was Bleser's friend and that he obtained drugs for Bleser because of that friendship. The record also indicates that Bleser stated, on a number of occasions, that he needed to obtain drugs for friends who were coming to visit from another city. This evidence indicates, taking into account Juillet's testimony, that there was indeed an appeal to friendship. Although the friendship between Bleser and Juillet does not cover a period of years, see People v Hentkowski, 154 Mich App 171, 174-175; 397 NW2d 255 (1986) (mere acquaintance is insufficient to support a claim of entrapment), the friendship lasted several months and they saw each other on a daily basis. The testimony at the Turner hearings indicated that Bleser did favors for Juillet, took Juillet out to eat, and had Juillet over to his apartment on numerous occasions. Bleser even met Juillet's parents. These actions would more strongly indicate a friendship to a person of defendant's age and limited education, if not a dependency, than they would to an average person. See People v Mulkey, 153 Mich App 737; 396 NW2d 514 (1986). Thus, Juillet's claim of an appeal to his friendship with Bleser is supported by the record. There also existed police procedures that seemed to escalate Juillet's criminal culpability. The evidence indicated that Juillet was a former and current user of drugs; however, the testimony at the hearings indicated that there was no knowledge by the police, Bleser, or anyone else on the record that Juillet was ever a drug dealer. [8] The evidence also showed that Bleser requested Juillet to find drugs for him on numerous occasions and persuaded Juillet to set up drug transactions with other parties, himself and an undercover officer. We note that courts have found, under either the objective or the subjective test of entrapment, that when a drug user is convicted for the sale of drugs where no evidence exists that police had knowledge that the defendant was a drug dealer, the defendant was entrapped. Shrader, supra at 502-504; State v Soroushirn, 571 P2d 1370 (Utah, 1977). Although only one of many factors to consider, Juillet's criminal pattern was escalated from that of use or possession of drugs to the delivery of drugs, unlike the circumstances presented in Brown. In this case, the police sent Bleser on a fishing expedition to find dealers, and the arrest of Juillet occurred when neither Bleser nor the police had any reason to believe that Juillet was actually selling drugs. [9] This situation is the opposite of that in Brown, in which the investigators had reason to believe that the crimes charged were actually being committed. This factor also tends to support Juillet's claim of reprehensible police conduct. A prior alleged sale of drugs made by Juillet does not require a contrary conclusion. The alleged sale was also a situation where Bleser asked for a marijuana cigarette, was given one by Juillet, and then Bleser paid Juillet back for the cigarette without being asked for any payment. This situation simply indicates a drug user being sociable with another drug user as part of a friendship. At the most, this evidence shows that, under the circumstances as objectively determined, Juillet was only a drug user. It also seems insignificant that Juillet knew drug dealers in the area. As noted by the prosecution and the defense, there was a general subculture in the area and the people in that subculture would seemingly have general knowledge of the ongoing activities and of the persons involved in those activities. Therefore, it seems clear that Juillet was not a drug dealer and that the only reason for his delivery of drugs to Bleser was the incessant requests by Bleser and the other activities undertaken by Bleser to induce Juillet into committing the crime. We do not understand why the trial court differentiated between the March 2 and the March 24 charges. The circumstances did not change significantly, and the fact that Bleser did not personally participate in the March 2 delivery is not controlling. There were incredible appeals to the friendship that existed between Bleser and Juillet, and also appeals to Juillet's sympathy to obtain drugs for Bleser's friends when they came to visit. In fact, all occasions on which delivery charges were brought involved requests by either Bleser or an undercover officer. The circumstances in this case establish to our satisfaction the likelihood that a normally law-abiding person, similarly situated to Juillet and not otherwise disposed to the sale of drugs, would have been induced by the investigative techniques here employed.