Diminished Capacity & Entrapment
United States v. Johnson, (Maine Federal District Court,
November 27, 1996)
Apparently agreeing that government agents entrapped a naïve, hard-working
marina owner from Hancock, a federal jury of four woman and eight men
Tuesday found Philip Johnson not guilty of felony drug charges.
The jury took about 2.50 hours to acquit the 45-year old of the charges
stemming from an alleged conspiracy to smuggle $10 million worth of marijuana
into Maine through the secluded port.
Allowing expert mental health testimony as part of the entrapment defense
has never before been allowed in the federal court region that encompasses
Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico.