U.S. v. Leal

Record contained sufficient evidence to support defendant’s guilty verdict on charge of attempted enticement of minor that arose out of sting operation operated by police officer posing as 15-year-old boy. Taped conversations between officer and defendant indicated that defendant inquired on several occasions as to whether officer was trapping him to commit offense, which, according to defendant, supported his entrapment defense by inducing him to commit said offense, where officer denied several times that he would turn defendant over to authorities. While Ct. of Appeals found that such evidence might support entrapment defense under certain scenarios, it further found that other evidence would support finding that defendant was predisposed to committing charged offense, where: (1) defendant persisted in actively planning sexual encounter with minor; (2) there were several opportunities during conversation, where defendant could have ended conversation; and (3) defendant was individual who initiated encounter with officer, selected particular sex act that his wanted minor to perform, asked officer for address of minor on more than one occasion, and eventually confessed to charged crime and to knowing that his actions were wrong.