6 Wyo. 110 | Wyo. | 1895
The plaintiff in error was convicted pf the crime of forgery in the district court for Sweetwater County, and on October 12, 1894, was sentenced thereunder to be imprisoned in the penitentiary for the term of four years. The uttering of forged paper knowing it to be forged with intent to defraud is denominated forgery by our statute, and is included in the statutory definition of the crime. The information, after laying the venue and alleging the time and place of the commission of the offense, charges that the defendant below “did feloniously pass, as true and genuine, a certain forged bank check purporting to be the check of G. W. Edwards, payable to the order of William Colbers, for the sum of forty-five dollars, he, the said Felice Santolini, at the time he passed said check, well knowing said check to be forged, with intent to defraud the said . John Slaviero.” A demurrer was filed to this information on the ground that the facts stated therein do not constitute an offense punishable by the laws of this State,, and this demurrer was overruled. Forgery by our statute in general terms is the false making or altering of certain written instruments therein set out at length, including checks, drafts, bills of exchange, and promissory notes, with intent to damage or defraud some person, either natural or artificial, and also the uttering, publishing, or passing any of the said false instruments, knowing the same to be false, forged, or counterfeited, with the like intent to defraud. Rev. Stat., Sec. 924. Our criminal code is very liberal in its provisions relating to the construction of indictments, the rules of which apply
The information is not bad for the reason that the name of the bank drawee is not stated. This point was not raised by counsel for plaintiff in error as his contention was upon the other ground, that the check described in the information was not of legal efficacy, without an indorsement, and could not be passed without such an indorsement. In forgery it was never necessary to set
No matter how defective may have been the forgery, it is enough if there be a possibility of fraud. Even though a bill could only be negotiated by the indorsement of two payees, the false mating of the indorsement of one .of them is a forgery. 1 Wharton Crim. Law, 695, 742. The fact that no person is at the time legally in a situation to be defrauded is no defense if there is a possibility of fraud. Id., 714. The false writing must be such that it *‘ might ” injure another. People v. Monroe, 100 Cal., 664. According to Mr. Bishop : “Forgery is the making of a false writing, which, if genuine, would apparently be of some legal-efficacy. ” It does not seem from the authorities that it is necessary either in any indictment for forgery, or for uttering forged paper, or for passing the same, to set out any indorsements thereon, to show the instrument to be of apparent legal efficacy; it is sufficient to charge that it is a forged writing, was uttered or was passed with knowledge of the forgery, and with intent to defraud. The demurrer to the information and the motion in arrest of judgment were properly overruled.
2. The proof shows that the check was made payable to the order of William Colbers or to him, and purported to be indorsed by William Casber. The indorsement was not that of Casber, as his employer, C. W. Edwards, testifies. Colbers does not appear to be known. It is asserted that these facts make the instrument defective and of no legal efficacy, the payee of the check purporting to be one person and the indorser another; so that notwithstanding the fact that the instrument was transferred by delivery, it could not be legally effective, and could deceive no person, but this seems to be the narrow view. A forgery might be so planned by an ingenious swindler as to bear all the appearance of genuineness, be correct in form, and yet be made intentionally so lacking in indorse-
Even without the indorsement, the writing would have been held by Slaviero, to whom it was passed, for the money he advanced upon it, as against all but the true owner, if it were genuine. The indorsement may be proved to show the fraudulent intent, and if that exists, without proof of the proper indorsement, this is sufficient.
3. The cheek offered in evidence against the objection of the plaintiff in error appears to be signed “ G. W. Ewareeds ’ ’ instead of G. W. Edwards. It is claimed that this is a fatal variance, as the information does not allege any extrinsic facts showing that the ihstrument, although signed differently, was represented to be the check of Edwards.
The evidence, which was that of the prosecution alone, the defendant offering none in his behalf, shows that the plaintiff in error asserted that the check was that of Edwards, with whom he claimed to have had dealings, passed it to Slaviero as such, and obtained thereon the sum of sixteen dollars, with the understanding that the residue would be called for the next day. Edwards testified that the check was not his, that the signature appended to
Affirmed.