Case Success: Forgery

/in , , /by

Start Transcript:

I’m Burges McCowan, criminal defense attorney here in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Today, I’m going to talk about forgery case ARS13-2002.

My client, Melinda, had an old forgery case that she was on probation for. Unfortunately a few years later the police charged her with yet another forgery but this forgery actually occurred back in her past, it wasn’t new. It was just government bureaucracy that resulted in it finally getting charged years later.

The government actually has up to seven years to charge you with cases. Like anything with the government sometimes it takes them a while. She was on probation and doing well. She got her GED, she’d cleaned up, taking care of her daughters but now she all of sudden had this new case charged even though it was really new.

Now the prosecutor that got this case, she was new and she didn’t quite understand that this was an old case that they just finally got around to charging. She wanted to put Melinda in prison. She wanted to really make a name for herself so it took quite a bit of conjouling with her to get her to realize this is not a new case. Technically under the Arizona law, she could still use it against Melinda to send her to prison even though it was an old case but I was able to finally convince this prosecutor that that wouldn’t be the just thing to do here and put Melinda back on probation.

It took a lot of fighting with this prosecutor but eventually we got that done and now Melinda’s back on probation and is back with her daughters and able to watch them go off to first grade. If you or family member that you know has ever been faced with something like this, give me a call, I do free consultations and I can help.

End Transcript

 

ARS 13-2002 Forgery – Dismissed

/1 Comment/in , /by

Melissa and her boyfriend were at a rocky point in their relationship. Melissa’s boyfriend usually provided financial support for her and her 2-year old daughter but he was withholding money. Melissa found her boyfriend’s checkbook and in a moment of desperation forged a check to herself so she could get some cash for her and her daughter. It didn’t work. The check cashing store suspected the forgery and called the police. Melissa had prior felonies and the prosecutor wanted to send her prison for over 6 years. Terrified that her daughter would become an orphan she turned to Burges for help. He investigated the case and found some evidence that helped convince the prosecutor to dismiss the case. Melissa and her boyfriend reconciled and got married.

ARS 13-2310 Fraud Scheme, ARS 13-2002 – Forgery – Dismissed

/in , /by

John had a criminal history but had put his past behind him and was living a law abiding life. Then he ran into some unscrupulous men who almost had John sent to prison. John was selling his old phone online and met with guys who didn’t buy his phone but instead tried to sell him their phone. He didn’t buy it but later that day he was confronted with those same men and a cop. They were accusing him of using counterfeit money to buy their phone. The cop didn’t believe John because of his criminal history and he was charged and looking at mandatory prison if he was convicted. Burges investigated the case, found several weaknesses, and convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the case. John continued on his law abiding path.

ARS 13-2008 Taking the Identity of Another – Probation with the chance to earn a misdemeanor

/in , /by

Mary is a realtor who made a dumb decision one day that almost cost her her real estate license. She had clients, a couple who moved to the Valley from out of state, whose home wasn’t ready to move in yet. She needed to find them a place to stay for a short time. She also had a client who skipped out on his rent and she knew his place was vacant. So she sublet his apartment to the couple. The problem was she didn’t get permission from the landlord because she was afraid he would say no. Then she got herself into real trouble by signing the landlord’s initials on the sublease agreement. She thought as long as she didn’t sign his name, it wasn’t forgery. But it was identity theft and now she was facing a felony and the loss of her real estate license. Burges negotiated a deal where Mary could turn the conviction into a misdemeanor after probation and then helped her with her real estate license hearing. She got to keep her license and her livelihood.