Cops put topless women in park, She asks man to unzip, then arrest man. Entrapment?

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4022717&page=1

Topless Woman Lured Perverts in Police Sting
Firefighter Busted for Exposing Himself to Sunbather Appeals 'Entrapment' Conviction
Law enforcement officials say that sting operations like these are an extremely effective means of lowering crime rates and stopping the criminally minded before they commit worse offenses. Opponents call it entrapment. (ABC News) By MARCUS BARAM

Dec. 28, 2007

Robin Garrison, an off-duty 42-year-old firefighter, was walking in Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio, in May when he saw a woman sunbathing topless under a tree.

He approached her and they started talking and getting comfortable, the woman smiling and resting her foot on his shoulder at one point.

Eventually, she asked to see Garrison's penis; he unzipped his pants and complied.

Seconds later, undercover police officers pulled up in a van and arrested Garrison; he was later charged with public indecency, a misdemeanor, based on video footage taken by cops who were targeting men having sex or masturbating in the park. While topless sunbathing is legal in the city's parks, exposing more than that is against the law.

he should win big in a lawsuit against them

and when he does...they arrest him?

Are WE fucked up or what???

If you're against indecency laws, then all nudity should be legal, not just some nudity. If you're against it, all nudity should be illegal, unless absolutely accidental.

Maybe tits are more pretty than Vaginas....lol....who knows in this crazy world of ours...ya would think peeps start worrying about more food production and rising ocean levels than penises and tits...

Most of us choose not too though because the sunburn is killer :P

I personally don't think of breasts as something that should be included in the indecency laws because it doesn't apply to men but I see your point.

either breasts are filthy and obscene or they aren't

either breasts are nice healthy bottles to feed baby or they aren't

i don't see how it's entrapment when everyone here saying it's entrapment would be howling for blood if the man had 1) told the woman to put her shirt back on, or 2) got her ticketed for breast feeding a baby

now taking out an actual sex organ...c'mon, the dude should have known better than that, it isn't a nude beach

dude ain't a pervert, that's just silly, but yeah, he's guilty of bad judgment, guilty of a summons offense, and he should pay the ticket for exposing himself

now if there is more to it, such as registering the guy on the sex offender's registry, that's way out of line, his job being affected is also bullshit, in what way does this impact his job as a firefighter, in NO way as far as i can tell

but yeah he should definitely get a ticket, people, keep it in your pants in public, thank you!

There's no evidence he intended to commit a crime before the topless woman came on to him.

It's discriminatory and has nothing to do with 'decency'. Or shouldn't.

(Actually, I don't think nudity is 'indecent'. Invading and bombing the shit out of a sovereign nation, now that's indecency. But off topic)

I'd easily get suckered into that at points in my life

That headline really sucks. I think asking strangers to expose their genitals in a park for you is pretty damn perverted.

He obviously made a stupid decision to expose himself but this isn't a case of some creep masturbating at the sight of topless sunbathers which is what they were supposedly after to begin with.

But to arrest him??? Thats perverted entrapmint...he thought he was gonna get sweet....

this is a case of someone engaging in consensual behavior at the request of a topless sunbather.

This is yucky, because it's in public, but it lacks the creepy-factor of a randomly wandering weenie-whacker.

but that doesn't excuse the police department in this case.

And I have no idea where you might even start looking.



This is just about the most OUTRAGEOUS example of "entrapment"
I've ever heard of. Every so-called "cop" involved in this travesty
needs to be forcibly directed towards a career in the food service industry,
immediately if not sooner.

NoFederals

If Kafka was writing today, his works would be about as "wild"
as the average monthly phone bill.

appropriate. Was this a policewoman? or did they hire some woman to do this? It seems to me that this is inappropriate for the police department. Ok I just read the whole story and apparently it's legal to be topless in this park but not to expose anything else.

with her leg. He could lose his job and pension (he is on desk duty while the Fire Department investigates). Totally fucked with no satisfaction.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D)

I have heard of nude beaches, not nude parks.

The undercover cop was not breaking the law, but the unzipper was. That's the difference. It's all black and white in law enforcement.

I've seen young women in the Short North (gallery area close to downtown) wearing nothing on top except nipple rings. But yes, I agree; it's entrapment.

ENTRAPMENT - A person is 'entrapped' when he is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case.

However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime. For example, it is not entrapment for a Government agent to pretend to be someone else and to offer, either directly or through an informer or other decoy, to engage in an unlawful transaction with the person. So, a person would not be a victim of entrapment if the person was ready, willing and able to commit the crime charged in the indictment whenever opportunity was afforded, and that Government officers or their agents did no more than offer an opportunity.

On the other hand, if the evidence leaves a reasonable doubt whether the person had any intent to commit the crime except for inducement or persuasion on the part of some Government officer or agent, then the person is not guilty.

In slightly different words: Even though someone may have , as charged by the government, if it was the result of entrapment then he is not guilty. Government agents entrapped him if three things occurred:

- First, the idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.

- Second, the government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving him the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading him to commit the crime.

- And third, the person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.

On the issue of entrapment the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped by government agents.

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/e024.htm

http://tinyurl.com/u66aw

:crazy:

so how much is a misdomeaner like public exposure go for? 200 bucks? how much does it cost for those cops saleries per hour? or for the use of a van and listening equipment? is the guy now going to have to register as a sex offender? this is just the worst usage of manpower and the most horrible form of entrapment. She asked to see his P****, he didn't expose himself without prompting. this is just plain BS.

Then she'll get a copy and the police will get a copy and the White House will get a copy.

When people spend their time in a park taking off their clothes, the economy suffers. When people send more email, they notice that they're using some old software that doesn't have a spell check feature and they spend money to buy new software, stimulating the economy.

:evilgrin:

the public living in the area of these parks is the one that requests police to do this, and usually it only gets done when the park is really un-fucking-believably notorious as a cruising spot, such that families no longer feel comfortable going there

to the person living in the neighborhood who couldn't feel safe in the park because of guys wanking it, enforcement of decency laws can be priceless

believe you me, no police officer went to the academy dreaming she'd be asked to sunbathe topless in public, if she wanted to be a stripper, she would be and for a lot more money

the public in the area demands these and it's kind of understandable as to why

personally, while i think the guy should be ticketed, i DON'T think he's a creep, i DON'T think he's weird, and i DON'T see why his job is being affected, he made a fairly silly mistake that won't happen again and this should be the end of it

unfortunately nobody made me ruler of the planet!

This is definitely the craziest, most pointless, and just fucking wrong one I've ever heard of, but it seems to be along the same lines as others. I also get really bothered when police pose as prostitutes or drug dealers or buyers to arrest people.

than stake out park and catch real offenders.

the park down the street from where I grew up was a known gay sex rendezvous spot. I went there to ride my bike, hike, etc. It just didn't matter.... now, this never went on in public (in bathrooms or cars - not out in the open), so maybe it's different, but I guess I just don't care.

there is a limited supply of opportunity for men to unzip? Why is a law professor insinuating that police are expanding the opportunities? America is a land of opportunity! The opportunities are already there.

I wonder how many guys she had to ask to get one to open up?

Mz Pip
:dem:

It comforts me to know that, instead of working to prevent real crime, our tax dollars are being funneled into absurd schemes such as this..

:sarcasm:

'Nuff said.

They run a damn sting with a topless woman? Bizarre.

that reads like every Penthouse forum I read...totally entrapment.. That is every man's fantasy.

She asked him to show her his penis....

Okay...

Say this was a gay sex sting... a guy asks an undercover cop in the park to show him his penis... he would get arrested.

Say this was a prostitution sting... a girl asks an undercover cop to show her his penis... she would get arrested.

This city should have bigtime charges filed against it. They're committing crimes to induce other crimes.

And besides... she ASKED him to... Isn't that the book definition of entrapment? Inciting someone to do something they normally wouldn't do?

Check out this comment from a police officer:

As a police officer for 23 years this may not be a law book entrapment case (close very close) but it is a true waste of time and reasorces by the police. The big problem is that police departments are being pressured to show arrests so when the stats show in increase in crime they can show an increase in arrest (see we are doing our job) Too many police departments are spending time and money on so called moral crimes (drinking in public, arrest of homeless) and not enough time on arrest of real criminals. I do not work in Ohio but in most likly was not the working cop but the bosses (major, ect) putting pressure on a officer or unit to see numbers.
Posted by:
irishpd158 Dec-28



This whole thing is definitely entrapment, IMO.

What a bunch of dumbasses and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

:grr:

Was legal, but caused an uproar. Not sure if they still do it now (if I find the article I will toss it out there in GD).

:evilgrin:

Way to protecting us from yourselves!

but if that isn't entrapment, it should be.

"Do you have any concealed weapons?"

I think that you'd be hard pressed to find a closer dictionary definition of entrapment than this. There's no evidence that he intended to commit a crime before the topless woman started coming on to him, and she ASKED HIM to commit the crime.