Forgery can refer to a completely fabricated document or a document that has been altered to show fraudulent information. Forging or counterfeiting a document is a criminal offense, as is knowingly using or possessing a forged or counterfeit document.
(falsity in the forgery context is a term of art that developed in the common law; the essential elements of the common law crime of forgery are (1) a false making of some instrument in writing; (2) a fraudulent intent; and (3) an instrument apparently capable of effecting a fraud; in addition to the common law ...
Articulating Mistakes in Prosecution's Case — The burden is on the prosecution to prove you committed forgery and had the intent to defraud. They must prove each and every element of the forgery beyond a reasonable doubt.
Proving forgery in court can be challenging since it often requires the testimony of an expert who has conducted a detailed examination of various elements of a document, such as the paper, they typed fonts, the date, handwriting and time sequences all in the context of the content of the document.
Articulating Mistakes in Prosecution's Case — The burden is on the prosecution to prove you committed forgery and had the intent to defraud. They must prove each and every element of the forgery beyond a reasonable doubt.
Second-Degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument Examples might include: Forged checks or credit card receipts. driver's licenses or state IDs. Altered legal documents like wills or deeds.
Investigators analyze and compare various traits, such as the appearance of letters, of suspicious documents with known samples to help identify the author of the document. Investigators might also be asked to detect changes that may have occurred in an original document.
Data Entry Errors: Misspellings, incorrect dates, or other data entry mistakes in names or other critical information can be red flags, as genuine documents typically undergo thorough checks​​​​. Altered Text or Images: In IDs and other documents, photo alterations, names, or other details are common signs of fraud.
A textbook definition of forgery is the making of a false document with the intent that it should be used or acted upon as if it's genuine. Therefore, the falsification of document includes altering a genuine document in any material part.
Defenses Against Forgery Charges Lack of fraudulent intent — If you did not have the intention to defraud, you may have a valid defense to forgery charges. Document Lacks Legal Significance — To be considered forgery, the document in question must have some sort of legal importance.