[omegaham]

> "there is no chutzpah defense."

This. If he hadn't created a multi-million dollar drug empire, there would've been no blackmail. Therefore, the fact that he had to resort to murder to stop the blackmail is no defense at all.

[Natsu]

Not to quibble, but it's also not the case that 'hire a hitman' is the only solution to being blackmailed. That's not exactly the first idea a law abiding citizen would come up with as the solution now, is it? It's his own fault he couldn't go to the police for help with the blackmail, so the court cannot reasonably excuse him for not doing so.

[xnull2guest]

He didn't come up with it. Law enforcement did.

"It's his own fault he couldn't go to the police for help with the blackmail, so the court cannot reasonably excuse him for not doing so."

That's not how blackmail works within the legal system.

[Natsu]

It doesn't matter what the police offer, if he chooses to hire a hitman (even a fake one) with their help, he's guilty, because an innocent person would say "no".

You don't get to kill other people to cover up your own crimes, period. Self-defense is the only possible justification, and that requires an imminent threat to his life (or at least grievous bodily injury). Threats to incriminate you don't count for anything.

Please refer to the guide, it explains all of these myths. If you think things work some other way, cite law to the contrary.

[xnull2guest]

Please refer to what guide? The webcomic?

Can you be specific about which webcomic had law enforcement blackmailing someone? I didn't see one that covers our case there.

> 'because an innocent person would say "no".'

Doesn't that imply that all entrapment is legal? And is it even true? People can be blackmailed for things they haven't done and even easily give false confessions of guilt...

Thanks for the conversation Natsu. I don't think you're the legal expert I was hoping would be in this thread. Again thank you for sharing your opinion.

[Natsu]

Let's break down a few of these myths. The whole guide is worth a read. The author says it's roughly the equivalent of what 1Ls go through.

=====

Can the police give you the idea to do something bad?

YES - http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=646

You're supposed to refuse.

=====

Can the police commit crimes along with you?

YES - http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=649

There are limits, though, to what sort of crimes, explained in the guide. Assuming they haven't overstepped those bounds, they're not in trouble, and you are. Not only that, but YOU can even get charged for the crimes they did if you were both members of the same criminal conspiracy.

=====

If you're under duress, is it okay to kill someone to save your own life?

NO - http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=813

It would be good to go back to review the necessity section, as well - http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=722

EDIT: Fixed a mistake.

[xnull2guest]

They should make a web comic university. I wonder if someone could pass the Bar Exam...

None of these cover the scenario. They do not have to do with whether using coercion (let's say the leverage in the third example) counts as entrapment if done by the police.

The answer is yes.

You are continuing to try to use web comics to argue a strawman.

They are interesting web comics, for sure.

Whether it is okay or not to kill someone if you are under duress is tangential to whether it counts as entrapment.

Both can be true. It can not be okay - illegal - AND be entrapment on the part of the police.

The argument is that it was entrapment.

The argument was not about whether hiring a hitman would be okay or not.

Please, if you feel like getting the last word in, for the sake of readers who stumble onto this, cover the issue and not another straw man.