Opinion ID: 441634
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Proposed Defense of Apparent Authority

Text: 25 At trial, Duggan and Megahey testified that they had been the unwilling victims of machinations by Hanratty who had convinced them that he was an agent of the CIA and had the authority to send munitions to Northern Ireland. Although Duggan admitted that it was he who initially sought out Hanratty and not vice versa, he claimed that he had merely asked Hanratty to debug the offices of the Irish People Paper and that Hanratty had conditioned his assistance on the agreement of Duggan and Sloan to find a contact in Northern Ireland to whom Hanratty could sell his equipment. While Duggan expressed disinterest, Sloan purportedly was persuaded by Hanratty's assurances that he was with the CIA and that the CIA was interested in getting such equipment to Northern Ireland. Sloan persuaded Duggan, despite his initial reluctance, to act as a middleman between Hanratty and Megahey (who was allegedly acting as Sloan's representative), after being assured that Sloan had seen Hanratty's CIA identification and had checked Hanratty out. Duggan also testified that Hanratty later showed him a white laminated card, without a picture, that bore the words Central Intelligence Agency, and that, as his relationship with Hanratty grew, Hanratty played on Duggan's sympathies for the IRA effort in Northern Ireland, convincing him that his theretofore peaceful protests were ineffective. 26 Megahey gave a similar account of his introduction to Hanratty and claimed to have been convinced upon first meeting Hanratty of both Hanratty's CIA connections and his assurance of government approval. He also testified that he had been influenced by the CIA pass, by Sloan's assurances, and by statements of Hanratty that he worked with such persons as George Korkala, Edwin Wilson, and Frank Terpil. Megahey admitted that he was aware that the three named men were the subject of criminal charges in the United States for the illegal exportation of arms to other countries. 27 Duggan and Megahey sought to explain their videotaped statements describing their prior experience in weapons transactions and expressing their fears of being apprehended by law enforcement authorities by testifying that these words had been placed in their mouths by Hanratty. Both testified that they were told by Hanratty that while other federal agencies might not be aware of the CIA involvement in PIRA activities, and therefore Duggan and Megahey risked the possibility of arrest, any such arrests would be taken care of by the CIA. 28 Eamon Meehan testified that when Megahey asked him to help ship guns to Northern Ireland, Megahey told him that they were dealing with a CIA agent. Colm Meehan testified that he had agreed to help Eemon only after Eamon told him of this conversation with Megahey. 29 Defendants requested that the trial court instruct the jury that if the defendants had acted in reliance upon the apparent authority of Hanratty as a CIA agent, they should be acquitted. The court declined to give this instruction.