10-2761 U.S. v. Gustin

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Criminal Procedure
Entrapment

It can not be error for a district judge to permit defense counsel to omit an entrapment defense.

“If an entrapment defense offers the best chance of acquittal, its omission could reflect ineffective assistance of counsel, but it could not demonstrate judicial error. Gustin does not contend that his trial lawyer furnished substandard assistance, and at all events an argument along these lines is best reserved for a collateral attack. See Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500 (2003). We have not found any appellate decision, in the history of this nation’s jurisprudence, holding that a trial court committed plain error by neglecting to instruct the jury on an entrapment defense never raised by the defendant or his lawyer. Our case will not be the first.”
Affirmed.

10-2761 U.S. v. Gustin

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Reagan, J., Easterbrook, J.

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