State of Arizona v. Maverick Kemp Gray

CHIEF JUSTICE BALES,

opinion of the Court:

¶ 1 Consistent with Arizona’s common law, we hold that AR.S. § 13-206(A) affords a defense of entrapment only when the defendant affirmatively admits the substantial elements of the charged offense. A defendant cannot invoke this affirmative defense merely by declining to challenge the state’s evidence, even when it includes incriminating statements made by the defendant to an undercover officer.

I

¶2 In June 2013, an undercover police officer approached Maverick Gray at a bus *477stop and asked if Gray could help him get some “hard,” a slang term for crack…