In Re Khan

THE COURT.

By means of

habeas corpus

the petitioner seeks to procure his discharge from custody under the provisions of section 871 of the Penal Code on the ground that the preliminary examination discloses no evidence of the commission of the crime of "forgery with which he was charged and that it does not appear therefrom that there is reasonable cause to believe he was guilty of forgery or any other public offense included therein.

The record shows that Chandar Singh, a Hindu, who is unable to write his name in English, was the sole owner of an account in the Bank of Rio Vista. To honor his checks the bank required him to sign his own name to them in his native script and also required the joint signature of his friend, Ishar Singh, in the English language. Ishar Singh had no interest in the account. He merely signed the checks at the request of the bank as a matter of accommodation, but his signature was necessary to constitute a valid check. There is evidence that Chandar Singh was not indebted to the petitioner in any sum. A check upon the bank for the sum of $85.92 was drawn payable to the peti

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tioner Bah am Khan, and it contained the purported signatures of both Chandar Singh and Ishar Singh. This check was endorsed by Baham Khan, who presented it to Sumida, a Japanese merchant in Sacramento, who paid it upon the statement that it was “a good check” in payment of labor performed for Chandar Singh in cutting grass. When it was presented to the bank payment was refused on the ground that it was forged.

The petitioner was charged with the crime of forgery. At the preliminary hearing Chandar Singh, the owner of the bank account, was not called or sworn. Ishar Singh testified that, “I asked him [Chandar Singh] and he said ‘it [the signature] is not mine’.” Ishar Singh said he did not sign his own name to the check, and he did not authorize anyone to sign it for him. Sumida, the Japanese merchant, testified that the petitioner told him when he cashed the check that it was a genuine cheek given to him by Chandar Singh in payment for wages earned by cutting grass for him.

The petitioner was bound over for trial in the superior court on the charge of forgery. This writ of