Officer's good looks a trap, court finds

Palm Beach Post ^ | Jan 22, 2004

[george wythe]

Just how handsome is Mike Nahum?

So irresistible that an otherwise law-abiding West Palm Beach hairdresser went against his better judgment and bought Nahum some drugs at a gay bar, in hopes that they could "party" together.

So head-turning that a female Broward County judge cheerfully allowed her approval of his looks to go into the court record.

And, sadly for Nahum, an undercover Fort Lauderdale police officer, too good-looking for his own good.

After officially ruling Nahum "a very attractive man," Broward Circuit Judge Susan Lebow then ruled that his exceptional good looks constituted an entrapment for Julio Blanco, the hairdresser.

Blanco could have gone to prison for 15 years if he had been convicted of drug trafficking for buying the drugs for Nahum, who arrested him two weeks after they met in a Fort Lauderdale bar.

Lebow dismissed the drug-trafficking case against Blanco. The 4th District Court of Appeal this week agreed with Lebow's decision.

Oh yes, Nahum's looks have also made him a star on the curriculum of Bruce Rogow, criminal law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.

Rogow sees the case as a textbook example of entrapment: The police officer has to entice the suspect to do something illegal that the suspect would not otherwise have done.

It is hard for a defendant to prove entrapment, but Blanco's case had all the right ingredients.

Working undercover in 2002, Nahum was looking for suspected drug-dealing at the bar. He approached Blanco, a self-described "lonely homosexual man," drinking alone. Three times, Nahum asked Blanco whether he could buy cocaine in the bar. Three times, Blanco refused.

Finally, thinking that drugs might lead to a sexual encounter, Blanco found someone selling crystal methamphetamine in the bathroom. He bought it, with $60 Nahum gave him.

Rogow thinks it is quite possible that Nahum was chosen for the assignment precisely because he was so attractive.

"If they had sent someone ugly, the defendant might not have succumbed," said Rogow. "You want the best player for your side, but legally you're moving into an area of outrageous police conduct. You're adding an element designed to allure."

[george wythe]

LOL! Funny fridge magnet.