Defense: Federal agent coerced teen to violence

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Defense: Federal agent coerced teen to violence
(AP) – 7 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Defense lawyers for a Somali-American teen charged with trying to detonate a bomb at a holiday tree-lighting ceremony say a federal agent tried to coerce him into violence.

Attorneys for Mohamed O. Mohamud said in a filing Friday that emails from an agent known only as "Bill Smith" prove the teen's innocence and show the federal government is not playing fair with the evidence it is supposed to provide.

"The correspondence between Bill Smith and (Mohamud) demonstrates that Smith was acting as an agent provocateur, attempting to encourage (Mohamud) to engage in violent activity in this country," the defense team wrote.

Prosecutors had said in a filing April 7 that the emails did not relate to the facts of the case, and acknowledged that the agent was working for the government, but that the contact was brief.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ignjKZjpsHjQJ6Sc6PQY6J0n3_XQ?docId=8d9a337a3a2c4ea8959e515eb4777be2

[Drale]

1. If its true its sick, but just to play the devils advocate

I feel that in order to try and going something like use a bomb, you would have to already have violence and the idea in your head. No one is going to talk you into bombing an event unless you already are thinking about violence or have been indoctrinated pretty much from birth.

[EFerrari]

6. Young guys talk about violent stuff all the time.

It's like a stage or something. Talking is not a crime or half of the teenagers in America would be behind bars.

[plumbob]

8. Thank you. I teach high school, and you couldn't be more spot on.

Latest phone app? Makes your phone sound like an automatic rifle. Music? How about Fuck tha Police?

Entirely age appropriate. Where does anyone think the phrase, young, dumb and full of cum originated?

[EFerrari]

14. Ex single mom of two male teens here.

And I have the scars to prove it. LOL

[msanthrope]

12. Especially since the contact was a year prior to incident--then reinstigated by the defendant.

The defense has a tough case--multiple recordings of the dude, and for their defense to work, they must convince a federal jury that multiple FBI agents and prosecutors are outright lying, AND that th kid didn't have ANY predisposition---

That is a difficult thing to accomplish, when you have a defendant who you simply cannot put on the stand and prove he's a good guy---

http://www.kptv.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4444265

[Webster Green]

2. The FBI is notorious for this kind of shit.

They are corrupt assholes, just like the DEA and the ATF. They're a bunch of thugs.

[socialist_n_TN]

10. Bingo! This is what they DO in political areas

The agents provocateurs advocate violence to try and get these young people to take SOME sort of further action so they can be arrested. It doesn't even have to go into ACTUAL violence to indict on a conspiracy charge.

Back in the 60s/70s in my little group, we ALWAYS distrusted the newer members who were the WORST at advocating violence. Most of the time they were undercover cops.

[The Magistrate]

16. Exactly, Sir

And if you do much of anything besides go to the police and say 'I know a guy who wants to set a bomb off downtown', you face potential charges. Entrapment is fiendishly difficult to make stick at trial, no matter what pressures the agent may have employed, to get someone to do anything at all in furtherance of the criminal act he proposes or offers to facilitate.

[socialist_n_TN]

18. Correct., sir. It doesn't have to rise to actual violence

for a criminal case to be made.

BTW, Magistrate, I'm curious. When you call "sir or ma'am" are you ever wrong? :) And yes you were correct, I am a sir.

[The Magistrate]

3. The Defense Has To try, Ma'am, But they Will Not Get far With This

[Dan]

4. it will not be the first case of entrapment

that the federal government police force has been charged with... remember the sixties..

[socialist_n_TN]

11. Yep. See my post #10........

Welcome to the board Dan. :)

[The Magistrate]

17. As A Defense, Sir, it Almost Never Works

If you have done anything but report the agent to the police as a man soliciting criminal violence, you are going to be convicted.

[The abyss]

5. Recommend +

Thanks for bringing this back into the light.

[defendandprotect]

7. Re-think what you think you know about youthful violence ---

youth are among our more peaceful citizens --

it is our adults who are the problem with violence --

There has always been a strong effort to try to create an image of our

youth as violent --

Some of the craziest stuff that has happened in recent times seems to have

taken place in communities where the MIC is strong -- and where prescribed

drugs have been involved for teenagers.

[erikdane]

9. Is it just me,

Or has the FBI or some other government agency been involved in almost every domestic terror plot the last 10 years? It seems that no matter what, it always turn out the the perpetrators would not have done it was it not for some coaching or encouragement from some government agent?

Makes one wonder.

[msanthrope]

13. Well, coaching and encouragement are permissible law enforcement tactics.

I've often explained to people that the legal standard for an affirmative entrapment defense is quite high.

Cops can lie, encourage, even act as your accomplices.

That's doesn't mean they entrapped you.

What you would have to prove would be that 'but for' the government, you would have no predisposition to commit said crime.

That means if you are an asshole searching for a crime, the government can help you find one. And you will go to jail.

[mogster]

15. Bingo

You just described the worlds problems for the last decade or so.

[sabrina 1]

19. I am not familiar with the case so I don't know why an agent

was in contact with the teen in the first place. But entrapment should be illegal except in very rare circumstances imo.