Utah Forgery Defense Attorney
A Utah forgery charge can
result in a
felony
conviction and up to five years in prison. If you are facing
prosecution for forgery,
you
need an
experienced Utah
criminal
defense lawyer with a record of achieving
real results. Stephen
Howard has
successfully defended more Utah criminal cases than most attorneys will
see in their entire careers.
Contact
us today to schedule an initial consultation for your Utah forgery
case.
Elements of a Forgery Case in Utah
Forgery is broadly defined under the Utah criminal code to include
making, altering, signing, issuing, transferring, or a variety of other
acts involving a written document. Generally, the most significant
elements of a forgery charge are that the person committing the act had
the intent to defraud, the person did something with or to a document
that purported to be the act of another person, and did not have the
authorization of that other person.
Bad Checks in a Utah Forgery Case
The
most common Utah forgery case will typically involve someone who has
tried to cash a bad check. But just because the check you tried to cash
turns out to be fake doesn't automatically make you guilty of forgery.
In
order to convict a person of forgery in Utah, the prosecutor must prove
that the person had an intent to defraud. So if you received
a
check in good faith, believing that it was legitimate, you should are
not guilty of forgery.
If a person writes a
bad check
on his or her own account, this generally will not be considered a
forgery. But Utah criminal law still provides penalties for bounced
checks if the person writing the check either knows that their are
insufficient funds in the account to cover the check or fails to make
good on the check withing a required period of time after it bounces.
Passing
bogus checks is not the only way to be charged with forgery in Utah.
Other creative ways people have gotten Utah forgery charges
include: signing someone else's name to a traffic citation; submitting
as verification of court-ordered community service a letter where the
number of hours worked had been altered; and making up their own
modified
divorce decree then cutting and pasting in a real judge's signature.
Penalties for Criminal Forgery in Utah
The maximum potential
penalty for a forgery
conviction in Utah is a 0-5 year prison term and a $5,000 fine plus a
90% surcharge. Prison is not mandatory. A judge may suspend a prison
term for a forgery conviction and place a defendant on
probation.
In felony cases in Utah, a judge may also impose up to a year in jail
as a condition of probation.
The severity of a Utah forgery case
is often compounded by the addition of a common companion charge -
theft by deception. If a person tries to pass a bogus check,
that constitutes a forgery. If the person succeeds and get money or
other items
of
value in exchange for the check, that constitutes theft by deception.
Even
if the person is not successful in passing the check, the prosecutor
will often charge "attempted" theft by deception. Theft by deception
may be charged as either a felony or a
misdemeanor
depending on the value involved.
Forgery as a "Drug Crime" in Utah
Forgery
is legally considered to be a "property" crime. But many
prosecutors
consider it to be a
drug-related crime. The
reason for this is that many
people charged with forgery have an underlying drug addiction that is
driving their behavior. If you are facing Utah forgery
charges
and also struggling with addiction, you need a Utah defense attorney
who understands the legal side of your case as well as how to deal with
the problems relating to
addiction
within the legal system.
Finding a Utah Criminal Defense Lawyer
If you are facing forgery charges in Utah, a felony conviction and jail
or prison time are on the line. Stephen
Howard is an experienced Utah
criminal defense attorney,
who has
successfully protected his clients' rights in thousands of serious
felony and misdemeanor charges during his career. His
track
record includes not guilty verdicts, dismissals, and many
more successful results.
Contact us now
to see what an experienced criminal lawyer can do for your case.