Hampton v. United States
United States Supreme Court
425 U.S. 484 (1976)
Hampton (defendant) told an acquaintance — secretly a DEA informant — that he could get heroin and wanted a buyer. The informant arranged sales to an undercover DEA agent, and Hampton was arrested after the second sale. At trial, Hampton claimed the informant had supplied all the heroin he sold, and requested a jury instruction that the jury need not consider his predisposition and should acquit if the drugs came from a government agent. The trial court refused the instruction, and Hampton was convicted; the court of appeals affirmed, and Hampton sought Supreme Court review.
Whether a criminal defendant is entitled to assert entrapment as an affirmative defense to charges arising from the sale of illegal drugs when the drugs were supplied by a government informant.