Commonwealth v. Quirk

Here is another prosecution in which a defendant, shown by solid evidence to have possessed and dealt in illicit drugs, attempts to float the proposition that he was not predisposed to the crimes but was “entrapped” to commit them.

In December, 1985, the defendant John H. Quirk, an experienced attorney, was representing Ronald Power on a charge of “operating under the influence.” Power, worried about the likelihood of his being convicted, without Quirk’s knowledge offered himself to the police as an informer, thereby hoping for their assistance in quashing the criminal charge. The police…