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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Hampton v. United States
Citation:
425 U.S. 484, 96 S.Ct. 1646, 48 L.Ed.2d 113.Facts
The defendant was convicted of two counts of distributing heroin. According to the Government’s witness, the defendant and Hutton were playing pool when the defendant observed that Hutton had needle marks on his arm. Not knowing that Hutton was an informant, the defendant told him that he needed money and knew where he could get some heroin. Hutton responded that he could find a buyer and defendant suggested that he “get in touch with those people.” Hutton then called DEA Agent Terry Sawyer and arranged a sale. The defendant met with the undercover agent and produced a tinfoil packet from his cap. The agents purchased it for $145, and the defendant told them that he could obtain larger quantities of heroin. They arranged for another “buy” the next day, and the defendant again produced a tinfoil packet and asked for $500. He was arrested.
According the the defendant, in response to his statement that he was short of cash, Hutton said that he had a friend who was a pharmacist who could produce a non-narcotic counterfeit drug which would give the same reaction as heroin. Hutton proposed selling this drug to gullible acquaintances who would be led to believe they were buying heroin. The defendant testified that they successfully duped one buyer with this fake drug and that the sales which led to the arrest were in an effort to profit further from this ploy. The defendant contended that he neither intended to sell, nor knew that he was dealing in heroin and that all of the drugs he sold were supplied by Hutton.
He appealed, claiming that if the jury had believed that the drug was supplied by Hutton, he should have been found not guilty as it was an entrapment. The Court of Appeals rejected this argument and affirmed the conviction.
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