Curtis v. State
Curtis v. State
Opinion of the Court
1-3. The defendant was indicted for the offense of forgery. He demurred to the indictment generally, and on the ground that the alleged forged order which was set forth in the indictment was not such an order as could be the subject of a forgery, because it showed that no person signed the order. The order alleged to have been- forged was as follows: “Rome, Ga., August 18, 1911. Mr. Griffin, please let Charlie Barron have $40.00 to oblige Shaw Buchanan, he wanted to go home and I sent him to you.” We think that the order can reasonably be construed as purporting to be signed by Shaw Buchanan, and that the words “to oblige,” followed by his name, are equivalent to the expression “and oblige,” frequently used in concluding a letter or order with the signature of the writer. It was further contended in the demurrer that “the indictment fails to allege how or in what wajq
4. The evidence showed that a boy named Will Selman carried the order which we have recited to the store of the Griffin Hardware Company, in Floyd county, Georgia, and presented it to Mr. W. J. Griffin. A Mr. Graham was interested with Griffin in the Griffin Hardware Company. Mr. Graham was not in the store at the time, and there are circumstances from which it can be inferred that the defendant knew of Graham’s absence, and that the order would be presented to Griffin. Shaw Buchanan worked for Graham in the sawmill business, and Griffin was accustomed to pay, for Graham, orders drawn by Shaw Buchanan. Griffin paid Will Selman the $40, and Selman carried the money to Curtis, the defendant, who gave him the note or order, and who was engaged in the undertaking business. It was proved that Selman was, at the time he testified, a convict, who had pleaded guilty to uttering the forgery in question, and there was proof that his general reputation was bad. It was contended that he was an accomplice and that his testimony was not corroborated. Selman testified that, though he had pleaded guilty, he was in fact innocent of the offense of uttering the forged paper, because he carried the note from Curtis to Griffin without any knowledge of its contents or any intent to defraud, and the proof showed that he could neither read nor write. The issue was raised, therefore, as to whether Selman was or was not an accomplice; and we are of the same opinion as the trial judge,, who instructed the jury that although Selman may have entered a plea of guilty of forgery, if they believed from the evidence that he in truth and in fact took the order without knowing what was in it, and carried it to Griffin and got the money and
There was no error in overruling the motion for a new trial.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.