People v. Lapique

Citations

• 6 Cal. Unrep. 830
• 67 P. 14
• 1901 Cal. LEXIS 1257

Syllabus

<p>Forgery.—The Information Charged Defendant With Forging a Note purporting to have been executed to L. by M., and also with forging L.’s indorsement, and with uttering such forged instrument. At the trial the court withdrew the charges as to the indorsement and uttering, and instructed the jury to consider only the charge of forging the note itself. Held, that, the first charge being sufficient in itself, the contention of defendant on demurrer that the information was fatally defective by the insufficiency of the other charges was without merit.</p> <p>Forgery.—By the Withdrawal of the Alleged Defective Charges, and the instruction given to the jury that they should consider only the charge admitted to be sufficient, any error which may have been made in overruling the demurrer to the information was rendered harmless.</p> <p>Forgery.—On a Prosecution for Forgery, Wherein Genuine Specimens of the handwriting of defendant and of prosecuting witness were introduced, an expert on handwriting compared these exhibits, in the presence of the jury, with the signature to the note alleged to have been forged, and illustrated by drawings on a blackboard and by photographs the points of similarity and dissimilarity between them, and gave his opinion that the signature to the note was copied from the genuine signature of the prosecutor. There was evidence that defendant had had an opportunity to make such copy. Held, that, the genuineness of the signature being a question for the jury, the appellate court, not having the various examples of handwriting, blackboard illustrations and photographs before them, would not say that the evidence did not justify the jury in finding defendant guilty of forging the signature.</p> <p>Forgery—New Trial.—On a Prosecution for Forgery, wherein the prosecutor testified that he did not sign the note in question, and two other witnesses testified that he had admitted the signature to be genuine, newly discovered evidence that the prosecutor ha