The Grand Prairie police (TX) placed a flatbed trailer (with a flat tire) loaded with brand new tires on the shoulder of Interstate 20. That night, they made 18 arrest for theft. A judge dismissed all 18 cases calling the endeavor; "entrapment".
The Fort Worth police placed a bicycle on a sidewalk next to a parking meter along a commercial (retail) street. (University Drive), however the bicycle had a tracking device hidden in it. The police followed the signal to a garage and made an arrest. This conviction stood.
The difference in these 2 cases is the Grand Prairie Police had "eyes on" even filming the thefts, while the Fort Worth police followed a tracking signal. Entrapment laws are confusing to me and I won't pretend to understand them, but in my opinion all of the arrests should have stood!
When I was a teen, MANY years ago, another case involved a store-owner who was burglarized multiple times. He set up a booby trap that killed the next intruder. He too, was convicted of murder. Doesn't make sense to me..., either you can protect your property or you can't.
DMc
We have all come across reports where game wardens use deer decoys to catch poachers committing all kinds of illegal acts similar to the GP police with their flat bed bait. How is it that the wildlife police are successful at getting convictions whereas the GP police could not? Is there more to the story with the GP police?
