hypothetical person defense
hypothetical-person defense. An entrapment defense in which the defendant asserts that an undercover law-enforcement officer (or person acting at the law-enforcement officer’s direction) encouraged the defendant to engage in the criminal conduct either by making false representations designed to convince the defendant that the conduct was not prohibited, or by using persuasive methods that created a substantial risk that the charged offense would be committed by a person who was not otherwise inclined to commit it. • This defense has been adopted by a minority of states and by the Model Penal Code. — Also termed objective method. See Model Penal Code § 2.13. Cf. SHERMAN–SORRELLS DOCTRINE.
