The Fellow Veteran

During Prohibition, the Defendant lived in Haywood County, North Carolina. A federal Prohibition agent came to the community posing as a tourist. During his visit, the agent made contact with the Defendant at his home. The agent and the Defendant discovered they had both served in the same division of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. They talked at length about their shared military service and their experiences at war. The agent then asked the Defendant to get him some whiskey. The Defendant declined. The agent persisted, renewing his request on two more separate occasions. Each time the Defendant refused. On the third request, the agent invoked their shared service and brotherhood as soldiers — appealing to the Defendant's sense of camaraderie. The Defendant finally relented, left his home, obtained a half gallon of whiskey, and sold it to the agent for $5. The agent arrested the Defendant on the spot. At trial, the Defendant raised the Defence of entrapment — that the government had induced him to commit a crime he was not predisposed to commit. The trial Court refused to submit the entrapment Defence to the jury.