Moore v. State

407 S.W.2d 744, 241 Ark. 335, 1966 Ark. LEXIS 1159
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 7, 1966
Docket5173
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 407 S.W.2d 744 (Moore v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. State, 407 S.W.2d 744, 241 Ark. 335, 1966 Ark. LEXIS 1159 (Ark. 1966).

Opinion

Carleton Harris, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Paul William Theodore Moore, Jr., was charged by Information with Forgery and Uttering in 'Craighead County, Arkansas. After demanding an early trial, and refusing the offer of counsel, stating that he would prefer to represent himself, Moore was tried by the Craighead County Circuit Court sitting as a jury, found guilty as charged in the Information, and sentenced to five years for forgery, and five years for uttering, the sentences to run consecutively. From the judgment so entered, appellant brings this appeal.1 For reversal, it is asserted that Moore was not guilty of forgery and uttering, and the proper charge, if any, was False Pretense. It is also alleged that Moore was entitled to trial by a jury, and that he was further entitled to counsel “almost from the moment of his arrest,” his constitutional rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution being violated under the holding in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U. S. 478. We proceed to a discussion of these points in the order listed.

The evidence reflects that Moore went into the Mercantile Bank in Jonesboro, and told Tony Futrell, Assistant Cashier of the bank, that he needed “about $30.00 till tomorrow,” at which time he would have the opportunity to transfer money from a bank in Texas. Moore represented that he was working at the airport, installing an electrical transmission system. He further said that he was staying at the Holiday Inn, and would be in Jonesboro about three weeks. After some further conversation, Futrell agreed to cash the check, and Moore then took a blank check that he had in his possession on the Midway National Bank of Grand Prairie, Texas, and wrote the check in the amount of $30.00,' listing the account number as No. CA-973, and then signing on the signature line, “Carlton Electric Co., Ltd.” Immediately beneath the signature line, he wrote, “Vancouver, B. C., Canada,” and still below that, added “PaúIW. T. Moore.” After checking with the airport, Holiday Inn, and the Midway Bank, Futrell called the police officers, and Moore was arrested.

Boland W. Walden, President of the Midway National Bank of Grand Prairie, Texas, testified that he had thoroughly searched the records of his bank- with respect to an account of Carlton Electric Co., Ltd., and that no such account existed, or had ever existed. He further stated that no account had ever existed at the' bank under the name of’ Paul W. T. Moore. Walden testified that the account numbers in his bank had no letters whatsoever, and all account numbers contained more digits than that on the check in question.

Moore subsequently took the stand, and admitted that he was not connected with any Carlton Electric Co., Ltd., and also admitted that that name was entirely fictitious. In addition, he stated that he had no account at the bank.

We disagree with the contention that Moore was improperly charged with forgery and uttering, rather than false pretense, though it appears from the evidence that he could have also been charged with that offense. The basis of appellant’s allegation of the erroneous charge is that he signed his own name to the cheek, but it must be remembered that Moore, in signing this check, represented that Carlton Electric Co., Ltd., had an account with this bank. In other words, he did not maintain in signing the check, that he had a personal account in the Midway Bank, but only that he had authority to sign checks on the company — an account which he knew did not exist — and which could not exist, since he had made up the name, and to his knowledge, no such company was in being. We have held on several occasions that forgery can be committed where the name forged is fictitious. See Maloney v. State, 91 Ark. 485, 121 S. W. 728, Walker v. State, 171 Ark. 375, 284 S. W. 36, Tarwater v. State, 209 Ark. 687, 192 S. W. 2d 133, and Thompson v. State, 293 Ark. 780, 394 S. W. 2d 4912. In fact, the contention here made was also relied upon in Walker v. State, supra. In discussing this argument, we said:

“It was shown that the name of the drawer of the check, T. E. Smith, was that of a fictitious person, and instructions were asked which, if given, would have told the jury that, if this were true, appellant would not he guilty of forgery, but would be guilty of the offense of obtaining goods and property under false pretenses, an offense not charged in the indictment, and to acquit the defendant on this account. * * *

“The court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury that, if T. E. Smith were found to be a fictitious person, the crime committed was not forgery, but that of obtaining money under false pretenses. In the case of Maloney v. State, 91 Ark. 485, it was held that to constitute forgery the name alleged to be forged need not be that of any person in existence.”

We find no merit in this contention.

With regard to the second contention, we agree that our constitution grants the right to trial by jury. See Article 2, Section 7, Arkansas Constitution. However, that same section also provides that a jury trial may be waived by the parties in all cases in the manner prescribed by law. Here, the record reflects that Moore, on July 19, 1965, at arraignment, told the court that he desired a speedy trial, whereupon appellant was informed that the next term of the Craighead Circuit Court would not convene until November.3 Moore replied that he could not make bail, and he requested that he be tried by the judge of the court, sitting as a jury. Other court matters intervened to prevent the court’s return until September 2, at which time the trial was held. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2Í08 (Repl. 1964) reads as follows:

“In all criminal cases, except where a sentence of death may be imposed, trial by a jury may be waived by the defendant, provided the prosecuting attorney gives his assent to such waiver. Such waiver and the assent thereto shall be made in open court and entered of record. In the event of such waiver, the trial judge shall pass both upon the law and the facts.”

This statute was followed, and there was no error. The right to a speedy trial does not mean that all other business of the court must be “shoved to the back” in order to give an immediate trial. Such action, of course, would be impossible, since there are other criminal cases that must be disposed of, those defendants holding exactly the same right as the defendant who desires early disposal of his particular case. Obviously, all could not be heard within a short period of time. The case was heard by the court, sitting as a jury, only because of appellant’s insistence that this be done.

Finally, it is urged that Moore was entitled to counsel after he was arrested, and that the failure to furnish counsel at that time was a violation of his constitutional rights as set out in Escobedo v. Illinois, supra. This allegation is based upon the fact that Moore gave a written statement to Officer Bratton of the Jonesboro City Police, in which he admitted that the name, “Carlton Electric Company,” was entirely fictitious, and that he knew there was no account in that name, or his name; also, that he had no account under any name in the Midway National Bank. We do not agree that this case comes under the holding in Escobedo.

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407 S.W.2d 744, 241 Ark. 335, 1966 Ark. LEXIS 1159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-state-ark-1966.