State v. Pappas

CROCKETT, Justice:

Defendant George Pappas appeals from a jury conviction of attempted theft by receiving stolen property.1 He attacks his conviction on the grounds that the trial court committed prejudicial error, (1) in rejecting his defense of entrapment as a matter of law; and (2) in admitting evidence of past offenses allegedly committed by him.2

On September 8, 1976, one Rudy Sandoval, a Salt Lake County.Jail inmate who was awaiting prosecution on a burglary charge, agreed to work as an undercover agent for the police. He was electronically wired for sound, and took a clock radio to the…