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Getting Professional Help with the Los Angeles Forgery Lawyers
When most people think of forgery, they automatically assume the case involves one person faking the signature of another. The legal definition of forgery is much more complicated, but usually involves the falsifying or creating of a new document for benefit or gain. Whether accused of signing someone’s name, faking a seal, changing a legal document, or altering a check, you’ll need legal help to prove your innocence.
These are a few of the ways that the Los Angeles forgery lawyers can properly defend this charge and get the case dismissed;
Establishing Lack of Intent
Your Los Angeles forgery lawyer will work hard to show the court that you didn’t have intent to defraud anyone, so therefore you could not have committed forgery in the eyes of the California legal system. It could simply be a matter of you thinking that you had the authority to sign someone’s name or alter the document. It might be as simple as signing a spouse’s name on a check but the money was eventually spent on a family vacation. It could be you signed a document with the name of your boss without their authorization with no intent to defraud.
In the majority of these type cases, your Los Angeles forgery lawyer is going to assert there was lack of intent to fraud, therefore this case must be dismissed.
Forged Document Wasn’t Fraudulent
To be found guilty of forgery in California, the defendant must have the capacity to be able to deprive another of their legal right to property or money. If the falsifying or altering of a document didn’t have any legal significance, the case will not hold water. For example, faking a letter to endorse a politician, writing a fake letter of solicitation, or imitating the handwriting of another as a joke, will not be classified as forged documents.
The reason there is no forgery in these specific cases is because the intent in the above examples did not defraud anyone of monetary, property, or legal rights.
Making False Accusations
There are many forgery cases that simply arise out of very complex legal or business dealings. Those forgery cases that occur in a workplace setting often involve one person falsely accusing another of forgery, in an attempt to avoid getting in trouble for something or in an attempt to cover up their own mistakes. These tend to be very complicated cases and require the skill set of an experienced Los Angeles forgery lawyer to get a favorable result. Your attorney will need to sort out the details and then tell a clear story to the court about the actual turn of events.
Trying to explain your side of the story when you have others in the workplace arguing your guilt can be a challenge without legal representation. Your forgery lawyer will draw upon years of experience to cast your story in the best possible light.
Discrediting the Handwriting Expert
One of the ways that the prosecution will try to solidify their claim that you are guilty of forgery is to bring in handwriting experts to show that you were the one signing the document. If the prosecution is claiming that the defendant hand wrote or signed a document, the handwriting expert can be brought in to compare samples. When the expert testifies that you did in fact forge the documents, it is a challenge for anyone without a legal expert in their corner to get a favorable outcome.
Although the expert may have evidence that shows the signatures are similar, your Los Angeles forgery lawyer is allowed to bring in a handwriting expert of their own to dispute those claims. Your attorney may hire an expert who can produce several different samples of your writing to show that the conclusions of the defense are unfounded, and that the case must be dismissed.
The Los Angeles forgery lawyers have seen all sorts of these type cases, and have successfully defended their clients so the charge doesn’t negatively impact their permanent record. Don’t try to take these matters in your own hands, always speak with an attorney because the consequences in these cases can be severe.