Opinion ID: 1267164
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: West Virginia's Entrapment Jurisprudence

Text: West Virginia formally recognized entrapment as a defense to criminal prosecution using the subjective or origin-of-intent standard in State v. Basham : [17] Entrapment, as a defense to criminal prosecution, occurs where the design or inspiration for the offense originates with law enforcement officers who procure its commission by an accused who would not have otherwise perpetrated it except for the instigation or inducement by the law enforcement officers. Syllabus Point 3, State v. Basham, 159 W.Va. 404, 223 S.E.2d 53 (1976). Shortly after Basham, we added another dimension to the entrapment defense in State v. Knight , by reasoning that there was no logical justification why the adoption of the subjective test would prevent the application of the objective standard: A trial court may find, as a matter of law, that a defendant was entrapped, if the evidence establishes, to such an extent that the minds of reasonable men could not differ, that the officer or agent conceived the plan and procured or directed its execution in such an unconscionable way that he could only be said to have created a crime for the purpose of making an arrest and obtaining a conviction. Syllabus Point 4, State v. Knight, 159 W.Va. 924, 230 S.E.2d 732 (1976). Accordingly, after Knight the structure of the entrapment defense was determined by the facts of the case rather than a commitment to a singular test. By adopting this two-tiered approach which recognizes two independent standards for the defense of entrapment, we look to the facts of a particular case to determine whether or not the objective police conduct test would prohibit conviction of a defendant when the evidence overwhelmingly reveals unconscionable government conduct inducing the crime, regardless of the predisposition of the accused to commit the crime; or whether the facts were more shaped toward the subjective origin-of-intent test, by analyzing whether the conduct of the government incited or induced a person to commit an act that a person was not otherwise predisposed to commit for the purpose of obtaining evidence for the prosecution of that crime. In Basham and Knight, we compartmentalized the defense of entrapment, with the subjective test being a question for jury resolution and the objective test being a question of law for the court to determine. This analysis had a short life. In State v. Hinkle, 169 W.Va. 271, 286 S.E.2d 699 (1982), we found a rededication to both the objective and subjective standards; however, we deviated from the formula announced in Knight by empowering the trial court to direct a verdict of acquittal in those cases where the defendant proves the government induced the commission of a crime and the State fails to offer any evidence of predisposition. The syllabus in Hinkle was: When a defendant presents evidence of police conduct amounting to entrapment, and the State fails to rebut that evidence or prove defendant's predisposition to commit the crime charged, a trial judge should direct a verdict for defendant as a matter of law. Syllabus, State v. Hinkle, 169 W.Va. 271, 286 S.E.2d 699 (1982). As we have recognized in the general survey of the law of entrapment, the singular flaw in our entrapment analysis is not recognizing that the unconscionable governmental conduct theory is separate and distinct from entrapment. We do so now, and in doing so, we specifically overrule State v. Knight and its progeny to the extent that Knight holds that a trial court can apply both the subjective and objective tests as part of an entrapment defense, and instead hold that the defense of entrapment is fully contained within the subjective test standard. Any inquiry into the outrageous or unconscionable conduct of the police, which was previously considered under our two-tiered analysis, is now considered under a separate constitutional due process analysis. This will not be a radical departure from our existing body of law because we recognized a sense of governmental overreaching in Knight as part of the entrapment defense. The only thing we need to do now is to remove the unconscionable police conduct standard from the entrapment defense to a separate and distinct due process claim of outrageous government conduct. What remains of the entrapment defense is the subjective standard set forth in Basham, Knight, and Hinkle. [18] The practical effect of what we are doing is to adopt the reasoning recited in footnote 3 of State v. Hinkle , wherein we recognized that there should be a separate and distinct defense, other than entrapment, for a criminal defendant subjected to police or government agent misconduct. If the government's abuses are great, fundamental fairness and due process should preclude prosecution, regardless of a defendant's predisposition. State v. Hinkle, 169 W.Va. 271, 272-73 n. 3, 286 S.E.2d 699, 700-01 n. 3 (1982); see also State v. Leadingham, 190 W.Va. 482, 491, 438 S.E.2d 825, 834 (1993) (quoting with approval note 3 of State v. Hinkle ). Accordingly, the exclusive entrapment defense to criminal prosecution in West Virginia is the subjective standard, which occurs where the design or inspiration for the offense originates with law enforcement officers who procure its commission by an accused who would not have otherwise perpetrated it except for the instigation or inducement by the law enforcement officers. Syllabus Point 3, State v. Basham, 159 W.Va. 404, 223 S.E.2d 53 (1976). To the extent that State v. Knight and its progeny are inconsistent with this position, they are expressly overruled. The formula for proving the separate and distinct claim of outrageous government conduct shall be that the defendant must show that the conduct of the government in inciting the defendant to commit the crime was so egregious and reprehensible that it violates notions of fundamental fairness, shocking to the universal sense of justice, as mandated by the due process clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution [19] and article three, section ten of the West Virginia Constitution. [20] United States v. Russell, 411 U.S. 423, 432, 93 S.Ct. 1637, 1643, 36 L.Ed.2d 366, 373 (1973) (quoting Kinsella v. United States ex rel. Singleton, 361 U.S. 234, 246, 80 S.Ct. 297, 303, 4 L.Ed.2d 268, 276 (1960)). See also United States v. Pedraza, 27 F.3d 1515, 1521 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 520, 130 L.Ed.2d 425 (1994); United States v. Harris, 997 F.2d 812, 816 (10th Cir.1993); United States v. Spitz, 678 F.2d 878, 881 (10th Cir.1982). If outrageous government conduct rising to a due process violation is proven, the State shall be barred from any prosecution relating to a crime resulting from that conduct. Finally, after reallocating the entrapment defense to separate and distinct categories, there is still some unfinished business before we address the issues presented by the facts of this appeal. In State v. Hinkle , we rejected an invitation to adopt a mechanical formula describing the burden of proving the defense of entrapment. We revive that invitation and now accept it. There is no good reason to continue resisting a burden-shifting paradigm in the application of the subjective standard of entrapment. There are two recognized theories relating to the burden of proof of the defense of entrapment: the so-called bifurcated theory, where the question of entrapment is fractured into inducement and propensity, and the unitary theory, involving the single issue of entrapment. See Annotation, Instructing on Burden of Proof as to Defense of Entrapment in Federal Criminal Case, 28 A.L.R. Fed. 767, 771 (1976 & Supp.1995). Under the bifurcated theory, the defendant has the burden of proving that the government induced the commission of a criminal act; once that proof is offered, then the burden shifts to the government to prove that the defendant was ready and willing to commit the crime without persuasion, that is, that the defendant had a propensity to commit the crime. Under the unitary theory of entrapment, the defendant has no burden of proof whatsoever, and the government has the burden of proving that the defendant was not entrapped. See generally, Annotation, Instructing on Burden of Proof as to Defense of Entrapment in Federal Criminal Case, 28 A.L.R. Fed. 767 (1976 & Supp.1995). We find the more persuasive theory for proving the subjective standard of entrapment is the bifurcated approach whereby when the defendant invokes entrapment as a defense to the commission of a crime, the defendant has the burden of offering some competent evidence that the government induced the defendant into committing that crime. See, e.g., United States v. Rodriguez, 43 F.3d 117, 126 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 2260, 132 L.Ed.2d 265 (1995) (stating that the first step in a successful entrapment defense is to make a prima facie showing by presenting `some evidence'  of inducement). Once the defendant has met this burden of offering some competent evidence of inducement, the burden of proof then shifts to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was otherwise predisposed to commit the offense. Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540, 112 S.Ct. 1535, 118 L.Ed.2d 174 (1992); United States v. Rodriguez, 43 F.3d 117 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 2260, 132 L.Ed.2d 265 (1995). While the issue of the defendant's predisposition to commit the crime is usually reserved for the jury, see United States v. Jannotti, 673 F.2d 578, 597 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1106, 102 S.Ct. 2906, 73 L.Ed.2d 1315 (1982); see also United States v. Johnson, 872 F.2d 612, 621 (5th Cir.1989); United States v. Nelson, 847 F.2d 285, 287 (6th Cir.1988), a trial court may enter a judgment of acquittal if the State fails to rebut the defendant's evidence of inducement, or fails to prove the defendant's predisposition to commit the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Syllabus, State v. Hinkle, 169 W.Va. 271, 286 S.E.2d 699 (1982). C.