22 Pa. 390 | Pa. | 1853
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The defendant wrote a note payable to himself, for $141, and got an illiterate man to sign it, by falsely and fraudulently pretending that it was for $41 only. On a special verdict finding these facts, the Court gave judgment in favor of the accused.
The act was a forgery according to all the text writers on criminal law, from Coke to Wharton. But their doctrine is not sustained by the ancient English cases, and is opposed by the modern ones. Only three American decisions were cited on the argument; and we take it for granted that there are no 'others on the point. Two of these (4 Mass. 45, 1 Yerger 76), are wholly with the defendant, and the other (6 Shepley 371) supports the argument of the Commonwealth’s counsel. The weight of the judicial authorities is in favor of the opinion that this is no forgery. We think
For these reasons, and the reasons given in the Court below, which we fully adopt, the judgment is to be affirmed.