UNITED STATES V. MOHAMUD 21 2013 and lasted thirteen days. Both sides called numerous witnesses, and the cross-examinations were sharp and thorough. There was no dispute that Mohamud had tried to blow up Pioneer Courthouse Square while it was filled with people. The spirited (and supportable) defense was entrapment— Mohamud, a teenager with no criminal record, had neither the means nor the intent to commit domestic terrorism until he became involved with the undercover FBI contractor (Bill Smith) and FBI agents (Youssef and Hussein). The government countered that Mohamud’s actions before any contact with the FBI—including his Jihad Recollections articles—as well as his readiness to commit such a horrific act of violence proved that he had the necessary predisposition to commit the crime. After the close of evidence and argument, the jury returned a guilty verdict, rejecting the entrapment defense. B. Post-Trial Motions Mohamud challenged his conviction on numerous grounds. He cited Sherman v. United States, 356 U.S. 369 (1958), to argue that the government had entrapped him as a matter of law. Mohamud contended that he had intended to complete college in the United States, and only the FBI’s aggressive and coercive actions had led him down the bombing path. The district court rejected that argument, pointing to evidence that before any contact with the FBI, Mohamud: (1) originally planned to wage war in the United States until a dream refocused him on Yemen; (2) wrote articles for Jihad Recollections which advised how best to prepare to carry out “jihad” on non-believers; and (3) had lengthy email conversations with men that the FBI believed