Griffin v. State

908 S.W.2d 624, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2596, 1995 WL 628282
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 25, 1995
Docket09-94-007 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 908 S.W.2d 624 (Griffin v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffin v. State, 908 S.W.2d 624, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2596, 1995 WL 628282 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

[626]*626OPINION

BURGESS, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of Forgery by Passing. He then pled true to a single enhancement paragraph and the jury assessed punishment at thirteen (13) years’ confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and a fine of $5,000. Appellant raises three points of error in this appeal, however point of error two, the insufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction, is dispositive.

Appellant’s basic contention under this point is the record is entirely silent as to any evidence establishing appellant’s knowledge that the instrument he passed was in fact a forgery. The standard of review is whether, after viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, any rational trier of fact could have found each of the essential elements of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). The same standard applies in both direct and circumstantial evidence cases. See Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 160 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). The trier of fact is the sole judge of the witnesses’ credibility and the weight of the testimony, Adelman v. State, 828 S.W.2d 418, 421, 423 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); Tex.Code CRIM.PROCAnn. art. 38.04 (Vernon 1979), and can draw reasonable inferences and make deductions from the evidence. Wawrykow v. State, 866 S.W.2d 87, 88-89 (Tex.App.—Beaumont 1993, pet ref'd).

The State’s case rested on two witnesses. The State first called the owner of the forged personal check, Robert Rasa. Mr. Rasa testified he had received an order of pre-printed personal checks after opening a new checking account with a bank. The checks were not the design he had chosen and he returned them to the bank. Mr. Rasa was shown a check. He testified it was in the batch returned to the bank and the bank was supposed to have destroyed them. The check was made out to appellant and signed “Robert Rasa”. Mr. Rasa testified it was not his signature, he did not know appellant, had never seen appellant before, and did not authorize appellant to do any work for him (Rasa), nor authorize appellant to take any money from his (Rasa’s) bank account.

On cross-examination, Mr. Rasa was asked if he (Rasa) had ever had his vehicle worked on at “Glen’s Automotive,” or ever had “any work performed by Mr. Griffin while he worked at Glen’s Automotive,”. Mr. Rasa replied “no” to both inquiries. Appellant’s trial counsel further questioned Mr. Rasa:

Q. And you have no knowledge of any person who claimed to be Robert Rasa that paid for work at Glen’s Automotive by giving a check to him.
A. No, sir, I have no knowledge of that.
Q. Do you know of anybody else impersonating Robert Rasa at all?
A. No, sir.
Q. So, if somebody had work done through Glen’s Automotive and gave a check to Mr. Griffin saying they were Robert Rasa, you wouldn’t know who that is.
A. No, sir.

Immediately thereafter appellant’s counsel passed the witness. The State asked no further questions and released Mr. Rasa.

The other witness was Ms. Mae Duhon, a bank teller. She identified the check as one she cashed. She identified appellant as the person who cashed the check. She testified she went through the “regular procedures” for cashing checks, and personally witnessed appellant endorse the cheek on the reverse side and he produced his driver’s license. She did not see appellant write anything on the front of the check. Ms. Duhon cashed the cheek for the amount written, $250.

On cross-examination, Ms. Duhon reiterated nothing irregular took place during the check cashing procedure. She agreed with appellant’s attorney that she was not testifying that she knew appellant knew the cheek was forged when he presented it to her. Appellant’s counsel then asked:

Q. Because you don’t have any way of knowing whether when somebody presents a check that it’s forged or not. Right?
A. We do have ways of knowing, yeah, to check signatures.
Q. Did you check the signatures?
[627]*627A. I had no reason to because the system approved the cheek.
Q. So, it appeared to you to be a check that was just signed by Robert Rasa. You had no reason not to catch it. Right? A. Exactly.
[Sustained objection omitted]
Q. But at any rate, you’re not here to tell the jury that Lawrence Griffin seated right here knew that the check was forged, are you?
A. No, I’m not.
The following redirect and recross-examination immediately took place:
Q. [State] When you first saw Lawrence Griffin come in on that day on February 1, 1993, did you have any misgivings about cashing that check for him?
A. [Duhon] Yes, I did, because — the only misgiving I had was because it’s made out for an even amount and it’s for work. Usually it’s made out for an odd amount. That’s the reservation I had.
[[Image here]]
Q. [Appellant’s counsel] Your misgiving was because it was made out for $250?
A. An even amount for work. I mean, it’s usually like taxes deducted or — you know, to make it an uneven ...
Q. If it were contract labor and somebody were working on an engine for somebody performing automotive work and they were going to do that for $250, then that wouldn’t be unusual, would it?
A. No, it wouldn’t, if they had contract labor in it, you know, on the memo.

Neither side had any further questions and the State rested. Following a motion for instructed verdict for insufficient evidence as to the knowledge issue, appellant also rested without calling any witnesses.

The offense of forgery is committed if a person “forges a writing with [the] intent to defraud or harm another.” Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 32.21 (Vernon 1994); Ex parte Porter, 827 S.W.2d 324, 325 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). The intent to defraud or harm may be established by circumstantial evidence. Williams v. State, 688 S.W.2d 486, 488 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). Proof of intent to defraud is also derivative of other elements. In a forgery, the culpable mental state requires proof of knowledge that the cheek is forged. Id. If the State proves that an actor has knowledge that a particular check is forged, proof of intent to defraud is inferred. Id.

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Griffin v. State
908 S.W.2d 624 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
908 S.W.2d 624, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2596, 1995 WL 628282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-state-texapp-1995.