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Hampton v. United States

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toleration ... The Government is doing nothing less than buying contraband from itself through an intermediary and jailing the intermediary ... There is little, if any, law enforcement interest promoted by such conduct; plainly it is not designed to discover ongoing drug traffic. Rather, such conduct deliberately entices an individual to commit a crime. That the accused is "predisposed" cannot possibly justify the action of government officials in purposefully creating the crime. No one would suggest that the police could
24: 542:, and then said it didn't apply here. "Admittedly petitioner's case is different from Russell's but the difference is one of degree, not of kind". He conceded that the government's role, at least in the defense case, was more significant but stuck with the admitted predisposition towards drug dealing in rejecting any entrapment claim. Again, he decisively rejected any effort to assert the objective standard. 488:, perfectly legal, he thought. Previous to the deals with the DEA the two had, he said, already sold it to one gullible buyer and that he solicited the agents in order to make more money. At no time had he ever believed the two were actually selling heroin, he claimed. He raised the entrapment defense but proposed an alternate to the standard entrapment 569:
took issue with what they saw as Rehnquist's overly broad assertion that (as they put it), "the concept of fundamental fairness inherent in the guarantee of due process would never prevent the conviction of a predisposed defendant, regardless of the outrageousness of police behavior in light of the
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made the argument once again for the "objective" entrapment standard from previous concurrences and dissents, and said that this would necessitate overturning the conviction. He also said that he did not find the defendant predisposed to commit the crime either. "(T)he Government's role in the
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situation are of degree or of kind ... I think they clearly require a different result. Where the Government's agent deliberately sets up the accused by supplying him with contraband and then bringing him to another agent as a potential purchaser, the Government's role has passed the point of
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But in the instant case, not only was the heroin a completely illegal substance, it had been supplied wholly by the DEA. There was also no evidence introduced beyond his admission as such that Hampton had been dealing drugs prior to Hutton's approach. "The beginning and end of this crime thus
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or earlier cases delineating the predisposition-focused defense of entrapment to have gone so far", Powell wrote. He noted that the jurisprudence was very limited, and that the Court had, for one, not yet had the opportunity to consider an entrapment claim from some source other than
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after two years of being cajoled by material created by postal inspectors. Held: the government must show that predisposition existed before the government became involved, and legal behavior does not constitute a predisposition to violate the law after such conduct becomes
440:, was less fair and appropriate than the "objective" standard of evaluating official conduct, which dissents and concurrences in entrapment cases over the years had argued for. However, this was the last entrapment case to feature that conflict. 416:
The case came before the court when the defendant argued that while he was predisposed, it was irrelevant since the government's possible role as sole supplier in the case constituted the sort of "outrageous government conduct" that Justice
471:. Sawyer called the next day and arranged another deal. Later, in a parked car, Hampton gave Sawyer another packet, whereupon he said he had to get the money from the trunk. When he opened it, other agents moved in to arrest Hampton. 545:"The limitations of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment come into play only when the Government activity in question violates some protected right of the defendant", he wrote, in a comment read as scaling back his 578:
controlled-substance enforcement. "In these circumstances, I am unwilling to conclude that an analysis other than one limited to predisposition would never be appropriate under due process principles".
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Hampton's story was very different from the one presented by federal prosecutors. He claimed Hutton had, in response to his cash flow problems, come up with the idea to sell not heroin but a
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coincided exactly with the Government's entry into and withdrawal from the criminal activity involved in this case, while the Government was not similarly involved in Russell's crime".
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holding. The Court thereby rejected Hampton's argument that, whatever his predisposition, the conduct of the government operatives in his narrative was outrageous enough to trump it.
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The dissents agreed that the government's purported action was outrageous and that the conviction should be overturned on those grounds. The justices were among those who had said in
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that was legal yet difficult to obtain, and one the defendant in that case had demonstrably been able to obtain from other sources than the government undercover agent. As well, in
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In any case where an individual was prosecuted for selling drugs provided to him by a government operative, he said, conviction should be barred as a matter of law.
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aside. "(T)he police conduct here no more deprived defendant of any right secured to him by the United States Constitution than did the police conduct in
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informant who had, in turn, gotten it from the DEA. The majority held that the record showed Hampton was predisposed to sell drugs no matter his source.
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Sawyer and another DEA agent, McDowell, and sold him a tiny packet of heroin for $ 145. Hampton told the agents that he could get more and gave him his
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to sell. Hutton responded that he could find a buyer. After the conversation, he called his handler, DEA agent Terry Sawyer, and reported the proposal.
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He contrasted the two cases, noting that in the earlier case the government agent had merely supplied an ingredient for the manufacture of
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that the "subjective" entrapment standard adopted by the Court since it first recognized entrapment as a valid defense in
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the illegal manufacturing operation had been producing the drug well before the federal operation began.
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Rehnquist said that Hampton had misunderstood his comments about outrageous government conduct in
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when Hampton noticed the needle marks on Hutton's arms. He said he needed money and could obtain
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had speculated could lead to the reversal of a conviction in the court's last entrapment case,
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criminal activity involved in this case was more pervasive than the Government involvement in
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In late February 1974, Hampton and a DEA informant known as Hutton were playing
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Government agents supplying illegal drugs for transaction does not constitute
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where defendant had predisposition to sell drugs regardless of supplier.
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even though all the drug sold was supplied to him, he claimed, by a
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Stevens took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
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United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
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affirmed the conviction, relying on the Supreme Court's
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At 10 p.m. on February 25, Hampton and Hutton met the
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United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 425
495:The jury chose not to believe him and convicted. 847: 623:round up and jail all "predisposed" individuals 561:While likewise rejecting Hampton's defense, 639: 876:Drug Enforcement Administration litigation 612:He responded quite strongly to Rehnquist: 443: 108:Learn how and when to remove this message 848: 44:Please improve this article by adding 514: 120:1976 United States Supreme Court case 363:Brennan, joined by Stewart, Marshall 17: 13: 525:on the entrapment question alone. 347:Rehnquist, joined by Burger, White 138:Supreme Court of the United States 14: 897: 866:United States entrapment case law 856:United States Supreme Court cases 788:484 (1976) is available from: 770: 616:Whether the differences from the 206:Defendant convicted of violating 553:deprive Russell of any rights." 131: 22: 505:Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals 474: 411:Drug Enforcement Administration 871:1976 in United States case law 741: 716: 693: 556: 1: 686: 46:secondary or tertiary sources 570:surrounding circumstances." 393:, 425 U.S. 484 (1976), is a 7: 674: 533: 528: 397:decision on the subject of 395:United States Supreme Court 218:; conviction affirmed, 507 10: 902: 838:Oyez (oral argument audio) 581: 519:The Supreme Court granted 355:Powell, joined by Blackmun 57:"Hampton v. United States" 749:Sorrells v. United States 647:Jacobson v. United States 498: 437:Sorrells v. United States 377: 372: 367: 359: 351: 343: 338: 272: 267: 258: 253: 245: 202: 197: 165: 151: 144: 130: 125: 778:Hampton v. United States 724:United States v. Russell 700:Hampton v. United States 640:Subsequent jurisprudence 479: 424:United States v. Russell 390:Hampton v. United States 126:Hampton v. United States 145:Argued December 1, 1975 627: 444:Background of the case 287:William J. Brennan Jr. 160:Byers v. United States 147:Decided April 27, 1976 33:relies excessively on 614: 573:"I do not understand 881:History of St. Louis 829:Library of Congress 319:Lewis F. Powell Jr. 249:Conviction affirmed 184:96 S. Ct. 1646; 48 515:Supreme Court case 452:at the Pud bar in 283:Associate Justices 667:child pornography 665:man for ordering 634:John Paul Stevens 419:William Rehnquist 386: 385: 323:William Rehnquist 307:Thurgood Marshall 118: 117: 110: 92: 893: 842: 836: 833: 827: 824: 818: 815: 809: 806: 800: 797: 791: 764: 745: 739: 720: 714: 697: 405:man for selling 279:Warren E. Burger 268:Court membership 241:1003 (1975). 135: 134: 123: 122: 113: 106: 102: 99: 93: 91: 50: 26: 18: 901: 900: 896: 895: 894: 892: 891: 890: 846: 845: 840: 834: 831: 825: 822: 816: 813: 807: 804: 798: 795: 789: 773: 768: 767: 746: 742: 721: 717: 698: 694: 689: 677: 642: 599:methamphetamine 587:William Brennan 584: 559: 536: 531: 517: 501: 482: 477: 446: 331:John P. Stevens 321: 309: 297: 193: 146: 140: 121: 114: 103: 97: 94: 51: 49: 43: 39:primary sources 27: 12: 11: 5: 899: 889: 888: 883: 878: 873: 868: 863: 858: 844: 843: 811:Google Scholar 772: 771:External links 769: 766: 765: 740: 715: 691: 690: 688: 685: 684: 683: 676: 673: 672: 671: 641: 638: 583: 580: 567:Harry Blackmun 558: 555: 535: 532: 530: 527: 516: 513: 500: 497: 481: 478: 476: 473: 445: 442: 384: 383: 375: 374: 370: 369: 365: 364: 361: 357: 356: 353: 349: 348: 345: 341: 340: 336: 335: 334: 333: 311:Harry Blackmun 295:Potter Stewart 284: 281: 276: 270: 269: 265: 264: 256: 255: 251: 250: 247: 243: 242: 208:21 U.S.C. 204: 200: 199: 195: 194: 183: 167: 163: 162: 153: 152:Full case name 149: 148: 142: 141: 136: 128: 127: 119: 116: 115: 30: 28: 21: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 898: 887: 884: 882: 879: 877: 874: 872: 869: 867: 864: 862: 859: 857: 854: 853: 851: 839: 830: 821: 812: 803: 794: 793:CourtListener 787: 783: 779: 775: 774: 762: 759: 755: 751: 750: 744: 737: 734: 730: 726: 725: 719: 712: 709: 705: 701: 696: 692: 682: 679: 678: 668: 664: 660: 657: 653: 649: 648: 644: 643: 637: 635: 630: 626: 624: 619: 613: 610: 606: 604: 600: 595: 593: 588: 579: 576: 571: 568: 564: 554: 552: 548: 543: 541: 526: 524: 523: 512: 510: 506: 496: 493: 491: 487: 472: 470: 466: 461: 459: 455: 451: 441: 439: 438: 433: 428: 426: 425: 420: 414: 412: 408: 404: 400: 396: 392: 391: 381: 376: 371: 366: 362: 358: 354: 350: 346: 342: 339:Case opinions 337: 332: 328: 324: 320: 316: 312: 308: 304: 300: 296: 292: 288: 285: 282: 280: 277: 275:Chief Justice 274: 273: 271: 266: 262: 257: 252: 248: 244: 240: 236: 232: 228: 224: 221: 217: 213: 212:§ 841(a) 209: 205: 201: 196: 191: 187: 181: 180: 175: 172: 168: 164: 161: 159: 154: 150: 143: 139: 129: 124: 112: 109: 101: 90: 87: 83: 80: 76: 73: 69: 66: 62: 59: –  58: 54: 53:Find sources: 47: 41: 40: 36: 31:This article 29: 25: 20: 19: 16: 777: 763: (1932). 747: 743: 738: (1973). 722: 718: 713: (1976). 699: 695: 645: 631: 628: 617: 615: 611: 607: 602: 596: 591: 585: 574: 572: 563:Lewis Powell 560: 550: 546: 544: 539: 537: 520: 518: 508: 502: 494: 483: 475:Lower courts 469:phone number 462: 447: 435: 431: 429: 422: 415: 389: 388: 387: 373:Laws applied 326: 314: 302: 290: 198:Case history 177: 155: 104: 95: 85: 78: 71: 64: 52: 32: 15: 557:Concurrence 490:instruction 352:Concurrence 299:Byron White 233:. granted, 98:August 2019 850:Categories 687:References 522:certiorari 465:undercover 399:Entrapment 380:entrapment 261:entrapment 246:Subsequent 190:U.S. LEXIS 188:113; 1976 68:newspapers 35:references 454:St. Louis 378:Existing 186:L. Ed. 2d 166:Citations 156:Hampton, 776:Text of 675:See also 670:illegal. 663:Nebraska 632:Justice 534:Majority 529:Decision 403:Missouri 382:case law 344:Majority 227:8th Cir. 802:Findlaw 618:Russell 603:Russell 592:Russell 582:Dissent 575:Russell 551:Russell 547:Russell 540:Russell 509:Russell 432:Russell 360:Dissent 254:Holding 229:1974); 82:scholar 886:Heroin 841:  835:  832:  826:  823:  820:Justia 817:  814:  808:  805:  799:  796:  790:  752:, 727:, 702:, 499:Appeal 458:heroin 407:heroin 329: 327:· 325:  317: 315:· 313:  305: 303:· 301:  293: 291:· 289:  210:  84:  77:  70:  63:  55:  784: 756: 731: 706: 654: 480:Trial 237: 203:Prior 158:a/k/a 89:JSTOR 75:books 786:U.S. 758:U.S. 733:U.S. 708:U.S. 656:U.S. 565:and 503:The 486:fake 450:pool 239:U.S. 231:cert 220:F.2d 179:more 171:U.S. 169:425 61:news 782:425 761:435 754:287 736:423 729:411 711:484 704:425 659:540 652:503 235:420 223:832 214:in 174:484 37:to 852:: 780:, 650:, 492:. 192:49 48:. 225:( 182:) 176:( 111:) 105:( 100:) 96:( 86:· 79:· 72:· 65:· 42:.

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Supreme Court of the United States
a/k/a
U.S.
484
more
L. Ed. 2d
U.S. LEXIS
21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
F.2d
832
8th Cir.
cert
420
U.S.
entrapment
Warren E. Burger
William J. Brennan Jr.

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