People v. Smith et al.
California Supreme Court
80 P.3d 662 (2003)
Undercover officer Juan Martinez approached suspected drug dealer Smith and offered her a chance to steal 30 to 100 kilograms of cocaine from a major dealer; Smith said she and her colleagues Thomas and Gonzalez (defendants) would steal any amount available. Martinez told them 85 kilograms was stored at a location, and police arrested the trio when they moved to steal it there. Because the amount exceeded an 80-kilogram sentencing-enhancement threshold, the trial judge added 25 years to each sentence; the court of appeal affirmed the convictions but cut the enhancement to 15 years, and the defendants sought further review on theories of sentencing entrapment, sentencing manipulation, and outrageous government conduct.
Whether the doctrine of sentencing entrapment rests on either of two independent theories -- a defendant's predisposition to a lesser offense, or outrageous police conduct aimed at inflating the sentence.