State v. Fraley

Supreme Court of Louisiana

State v. Fraley

512 So. 2d 856, 1987 La. LEXIS 10085

CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana

DecidedOctober 2, 1987

DocketNo. 86-KO-2566

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 512 So. 2d 856 (State v. Fraley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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State v. Fraley, 512 So. 2d 856, 1987 La. LEXIS 10085 (La. 1987).

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Opinion

In re Fraley, Alvin J.; applying for writ of habeas corpus; to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, No. KA-3880; Parish of Orleans, Criminal District Court, Div. “A”, No. 303-179.

Prior report: La.App., 499 So.2d 1304.

Granted in part; denied in part. Defendant may have violated R.S. 40:61(A)(3) by obtaining the birth certificate of James Wylie Simpson and blanking out the handwritten notation “Died 9-24-59,” but he did not commit forgery. Information with regard to a person’s death is not required for a valid birth certificate, see, La.R.S. 40:34, and defendant’s deception did not materially alter the genuineness of the document or render it a false writing for purposes of La.R.S. 14:72. Furthermore, while defendant may have violated La.R.S. 15:596(C) by signing his fingerprint card at booking with Simpson’s name and providing the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification with false information, he did not injure a public record as defined in La.R.S. 14:132. For purposes of that statute, defendant did not falsify a record already “filed or deposited by authority of law, in any public office or with any public officer.” Accordingly, defendant’s convictions and sentences for forging Simpson’s birth certificate (Count 4 of the bill of information) and injuring public records (Count 5 of the bill of information) are set aside. In all other respects, the writ is denied.

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In re Fraley, Alvin J.; applying for writ of habeas corpus; to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, No. KA-3880; Parish of Orleans, Criminal District Court, Div. “A”, No. 303-179.

Prior report: La.App., 499 So.2d 1304.

Granted in part; denied in part. Defendant may have violated R.S. 40:61(A)(3) by obtaining the birth certificate of James Wylie Simpson and blanking out the handwritten notation “Died 9-24-59,” but he did not commit forgery. Information with regard to a person’s death is not required for a valid birth certificate, see, La.R.S. 40:34, and defendant’s deception did not materially alter the genuineness of the document or render it a false writing for purposes of La.R.S. 14:72. Furthermore, while defendant may have violated La.R.S. 15:596(C) by signing his fingerprint card at booking with Simpson’s name and providing the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification with false information, he did not injure a public record as defined in La.R.S. 14:132. For purposes of that statute, defendant did not falsify a record already “filed or deposited by authority of law, in any public office or with any public officer.” Accordingly, defendant’s convictions and sentences for forging Simpson’s birth certificate (Count 4 of the bill of information) and injuring public records (Count 5 of the bill of information) are set aside. In all other respects, the writ is denied.

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512 So. 2d 856, 1987 La. LEXIS 10085, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fraley-la-1987.

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