People v. Bibby

Garoutte, J. This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction for the crime of forgery, and also* from the order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial.

The defendant was the deputy county superintendent of schools of Fresno County, and the information charged him with forging, uttering, and passing, with intent to defraud the First National Bank of Fresno, a certain writing of the following tenor, to wit: —

“ Order upon the county superintendent of public schools No. 3, October 23, 1889.

“ The county superintendent of public schools of Fresno County will draw a requisition on the county auditor against the county school fund, in favor of B. N. Colwell, or order, to the amount of $120, for material and work from-= to-, during the present school year, in the Pleasant Valley school district, monthly salary of teacher, $-.

“ T.'T. Barnes,

“ J. W. Cox,

School Trustees of Pleasant Valley District. “ $120.”

[473]The defendant filed a demurrer to the information upon various grounds, which demurrer was overruled; he also moved an arrest of judgment for the same reasons, which motion was denied.

Section 470 of the Penal Code is very broad in its terms, and we think sufficiently broad to include the offense of forging an order of the trustees of a school district upon the county superintendent of schools for a requisition upon the auditor for a county warrant.

Appellant contends that the order is illegal upon its face, for the reason that it does not appear by the information that it was accompanied by a bill of items; that sucli an order is worthless paper, save for the purpose of forming a foundation upon which to issue a requisition to the auditor for a county warrant; and that no requisition could issue in this case, because the order was not accompanied by a bill of items. Section 1543, subdivision 3, of the Political Code, in stating the duties of the county superintendent of schools, provides, among other things: “No requisition shall be drawn unless the money is in the fund to pay it; and no requisition shall be drawn upon the order of the board of trustees against the county fund of any district, except for teachers’ salaries, unless such order is accompanied by an itemized bill showing the separate items, and the price of each, in payment for which the order is drawn,” etc. Appellant’s contention cannot be supported. The case at bar in this regard bears a striking likeness to the Hawkeswood case (2 East P. C. 955.) Hawkeswood was indicted for forgery of a bill of exchange, and objection was taken, that, not being stamped, it was no bill of exchange, and that this was an objection apparent upon the face of it; and no person could be deceived or defrauded thereby, unless he took it without looking at it, which would be gross negligence. The court held that as the stamp act was merely a revenue law, and did not purport in any way to alter the crime of forgery, and as the false instrument had the semblance of a bill of exchange, and was negotiated by the person as such,