State v. Howell

FRANK, Chief Judge.

William Royce Howell, owner of a pawnshop in Pasco County, was arrested and charged with dealing in stolen property after he purchased a rifle from two confidential informants who represented the weapon as having been stolen. The Pasco County Sheriffs Office had begun investigating all pawnshops on the west side of the county after victims of thefts reported finding their property in certain pawnshops, including Howell’s. Howell moved to dismiss the information, alleging entrapment. The trial court, applying the doctrine of objective entrapment set forth in Cruz v. State,…