Even if entrapment cannot be proved in your Lehigh County criminal case, the police involvement may be so outrageous that prosecution will be barred on due process grounds. Although rare, your Lehigh criminal lawyer should be ready to pounce if the police and prosecution went too far.
In Commonwealth v. Matthews, the jury rejected defendants' defense of entrapment, and it found them guilty of attempt to manufacture a controlled substance. On post-verdict motions, the trial court arrested the judgments and found that the police conduct was so outrageous that defendants were denied due process. Subsequently, Commonwealth brought consolidated appeals. In affirming, the court found that that the police's extensive involvement in, and encouragement of, the manufacturing of methamphetamine was so outrageous as to have violated defendants' due process rights under U.S. Const. Amend. V and U.S. Const. Amend. XIV. In reaching this determination, the court emphasized that Commonwealth presented no evidence as to who had originated the idea of manufacturing methamphetamine. Moreover, the court found that it was patently apparent that defendants were extremely inept in consummating the attempted crime and were totally unable to manufacture the controlled substance despite the police's "spoon-feeding."
The court noted that even though defendants failed to prove entrapment, the police's involvement in the criminal activity was so outrageous that prosecution was barred on due process grounds. The court affirmed the trial court's order arresting defendants' convictions for attempt to manufacture a controlled substance because the police's conduct in encouraging and participating in the drug's manufacturing was so outrageous as to have denied defendants their due process rights, even though defendants failed to prove entrapment.