4 ms·

Can you elaborate on your reasoning? I don't see how entrapment follows from this.

by bogositosius 9y ago

ouid 9y ago
The prosecutor's office sends me a fake subpoena, I discover that it is fake and ignore it. They then send me a real subpoena, and not wanting to spend money on another lawyer, I simply assume that this one is fake too. In fact, without legal counsel, I have no real way of establishing which documents have official power and which don't. Now imagine they arrest me for failing to respond to real one they sent the second time, I have been deceived by law enforcement into committing a crime, the very definition of entrapment.
- bogositosius 9y ago
  I see what you're getting at. IANAL, but generally, the only purpose of an arrest on a subpoena is simply to compel your appearance in court. The judge could theoretically slap you with a contempt charge for not coming in on your own but that isn't likely. At least not the first time around. But still, I imagine it isn't pleasant to have guys in suits show up to take you to court in handcuffs, so probably best to deal with it before it gets to that point. By the way, it's very easy to tell which subpoena actually requires compliance. It'll be the only one with a judge's name, signature, and (hopefully) a court seal on it. Anything lacking a judge's signature could theoretically be used as toilet paper. Ask anyone working at a big corporation's legal department. They will be quite familiar with these self-generated "administrative subpoenas." I'm sure Apple and Facebook throw these out by the dozens every month from various prosecutors and law enforcement entities and tell them to come back with a judicially issued version.
- coldcode 9y ago
  Always check the signature on a subpoena - if its a judge you can check with their office and see if they really signed it. If its forged this will get whoever served it in big trouble.

4 ms·

Can you elaborate on your reasoning? I don't see how entrapment follows from this.

by bogositosius 9y ago

Can you elaborate on your reasoning? I don't see how entrapment follows from this.

ouid 9y ago
The prosecutor's office sends me a fake subpoena, I discover that it is fake and ignore it. They then send me a real subpoena, and not wanting to spend money on another lawyer, I simply assume that this one is fake too. In fact, without legal counsel, I have no real way of establishing which documents have official power and which don't. Now imagine they arrest me for failing to respond to real one they sent the second time, I have been deceived by law enforcement into committing a crime, the very definition of entrapment.
- bogositosius 9y ago
  I see what you're getting at. IANAL, but generally, the only purpose of an arrest on a subpoena is simply to compel your appearance in court. The judge could theoretically slap you with a contempt charge for not coming in on your own but that isn't likely. At least not the first time around. But still, I imagine it isn't pleasant to have guys in suits show up to take you to court in handcuffs, so probably best to deal with it before it gets to that point. By the way, it's very easy to tell which subpoena actually requires compliance. It'll be the only one with a judge's name, signature, and (hopefully) a court seal on it. Anything lacking a judge's signature could theoretically be used as toilet paper. Ask anyone working at a big corporation's legal department. They will be quite familiar with these self-generated "administrative subpoenas." I'm sure Apple and Facebook throw these out by the dozens every month from various prosecutors and law enforcement entities and tell them to come back with a judicially issued version.
- coldcode 9y ago
  Always check the signature on a subpoena - if its a judge you can check with their office and see if they really signed it. If its forged this will get whoever served it in big trouble.