UNITED STATES V. MOHAMUD
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Mohamud argues that his actions after the Bill Smith
emails are irrelevant for entrapment purposes, as they were
tainted by the government’s overwhelming inducement. And
with those post-Bill Smith actions set aside, the argument
goes, there was insufficient evidence for the jury to conclude
that he had the necessary predisposition to commit this crime.
This is wrong for two reasons.
First, although “only those statements that indicate a state
of mind untainted by the inducement are relevant to show
predisposition,” statements made after the inducement which
make “clear that [Mohamud] would have committed the
offense even without the inducement” are evidence of
predisposition. Poehlman, 217 F.3d at 704–05. This would
include Mohamud’s statements that he made about the
“awesome” terrorist attacks in Mumbai and on September
11th, and that he had been thinking about these “things” since
he was fifteen years old. And a reasonable jury could infer
that his decisions to become “operational” and blow
something up the first time he met Youssef (and later, to
choose Pioneer Courthouse Square at its most crowded time)
were evidence that his predisposition existed long before FBI
contractor Bill Smith emailed him.
Second, even if there were a rigid wall between pre- and
post-inducement, there was sufficient evidence for a
reasonable jury to reject the entrapment defense. Mohamud’s
Jihad Recollections articles—both the draft and final
versions—provided ample evidence of his predisposition to
carry out the charged crime. In those articles, he, among
other things, coached people on how to prepare themselves
physically to attack and kill their Western enemies, and
saluted those in Afghanistan who “finish[ed] off” wounded
American soldiers. Although these articles may come across
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