Adams v. Allen

GOODELL, J. Plaintiff, as assignee of The Emporium, a San Francisco department store, sued for $2,705.95 as owing for merchandise. Defendant Ellis Henderson admitted owing $10.76 but denied owing any more, and judgment was entered for $10.76 against her. While the plaintiff appealed from the whole of the judgment we assume the appeal was addressed only to that part of the judgment which denied a recovery for the difference between $10.76 and $2,705.95.

The court found that defendant Ellis Henderson did not incur any indebtedness after 1945; that the charges in question were incurred in December, 1947, but were not made or authorized by her “nor did she sign the sales slips thereof; that the simulation of her signature upon the sales slips was a forgery. ’ ’

The only question is whether these findings are sustained by the evidence.

On May 12,1943, defendant Ellis Henderson opened a charge account at The Emporium, which issued to her a “Chargaplate” containing her signature. Under the store’s routine a sale, if under $25, would be made on credit if the signature on the sales slip corresponded with that on the plate held by the customer.

Ellis Henderson admitted making purchases with her 1 ‘ Charga-plate, ’ ’ but testified that she paid her bills monthly up to May, 1945, excepting the $10.76 balance.

She testified she had evidently lost the plate as she had not seen it since August, 1947, and never thereafter attempted to buy on credit at The Emporium. There is no claim that between May, 1945, and December, 1947, any charge was made against the account. From December 1st to 27th, however, there were 173 sales charged against the account (each under $25) aggregating $2,695.19, all negotiated with Ellis Henderson’s “Charga-plate.” This averages 7% sales a day in 23 shopping days. On one day there were 17 sales, each made in a different department.

Several of Ellis Henderson’s signatures, including those she wrote in the courtroom, were used as exemplars. A handwriting expert testified that in his opinion all the signatures on the 173 December sales slips were written by the person who wrote the exemplars. Defendant Ellis Henderson denied that she wrote any of them.

Appellant contends that the respondent’s testimony is inherently improbable and that the court’s finding of forgery [943]