What is the current state of the law on police misconduct?

The issue of whether police misconduct violates notions of constitutional due process is a question of law which is reviewed de novo. United States v. Wylie, 625 F.2d 1371, 1378 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1080 (1981). As a defense, police misconduct is a close relative of entrapment and has been applied where the involvement of the police in the criminal activity "reach[es] such proportions as to bar [the] conviction of a predisposed defendant as a matter of due process." Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484, 493 (1976) (Powell, J., concurring).