If you ask a police officer if something is illegal, can they lie?
<p>It's been established that police in the US have pretty broad discretion in terms of being permitted to lie. If you ask an on-duty police officer if something is legal, can they lie about that?</p>
<p>I know there is a previous question that asked &quot;<a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/43661/if-i-ask-a-police-officer-if-i-am-compelled-to-do-something-do-they-have-to-answ">Can the police lie about whether I am compelled to do something?</a>&quot; but I am asking &quot;Can the police lie about whether I am <em>permitted</em> to do something?&quot;</p>
<p>For example, say you're visiting a state where you're unfamiliar with local laws, and by some strange coincidence there is someone giving marijuana samples, but there is also a police officer nearby. If you ask the officer, &quot;Is it legal to have small amounts of marijuana here?&quot; could the officer say &quot;It's fine. Go for it!&quot; but then arrest you anyway?</p>
<p>Note, I do not use marijuana. That just seemed like the clearest example of something where laws vary greatly from state to state.</p>

<p>There is no clear rule on this matter, but there is a reasonable prospect for using an <em>entrapment defense</em> in this case, when deliberate deception is employed.</p>
<p>There are two tests for <a href="https://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/6-3-entrapment/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">entrapment</a>: the <em>subjective</em> test and the <em>objective</em> test. The former focuses on the defendant's state of mind: whether the defendant is predisposed to commit the crime without law enforcement pressure. The latter is where the officer uses tactics that would induce a reasonable, law-abiding person to commit the crime.</p>
<p>It depends in part whether the jurisdiction recognizes one of these defenses. An example of <em>objective</em> entrapment: &quot;A reasonable, law-abiding person could be tempted into committing prostitution for a substantial sum of money like $10,000.&quot;  Similarly, applicable to this question: A reasonable, law-abiding person could be tempted to undertake a pleasurable action having been assured that the action is actually legal.</p>
<p>Where the <em>subjective</em> test applies: The fact of asking about the legality of an action is evidence that the defendant was not predisposed to commit the crime.</p>

united-states police entrapment