It’s not a crime to bounce a check, accidents do happen. Criminal defense attorney John Guidry has seen all types and sizes of worthless check charges, and they can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony –– depending upon the circumstances. For example, if the check writer receives goods or services in exchange for the bad check, it’s a felony. However, if no goods or services were received and the bad check was written for less than $150, it is only a misdemeanor charge.

Knowledge Of Lack Of Funds

A key issue that makes a bounced check a crime is knowledge. There must be knowledge that there are no funds in the check writer’s bank account to cover the check. Another catch here is that it is not a crime if the person accepting the check is aware of the fact that there is not enough money in the bank to cover the check—in other words—it’s not a crime to write a bad check if you tell the recipient “Please don’t cash this check until next Thursday”. Under the same reasoning, postdated checks are not criminal.

“Obtaining Property” By Worthless Check

On a felony charge of Obtaining Property by Worthless Check, the law requires that the bad check must be used to obtain services or property. In one case, a general contractor hired a painter to work a week. At the end of the work week, the contractor gave the painter aworthless check. The felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors because a felony Obtaining Property by Worthless Check can only be sustained when the bad check was the inducement for the goods or services. In our example, because the painter did his work before receiving the bad check, it was not a felony. The same is true of a bad check written to pay off a debt. This is a difficult felony to prove, because the pre–existing debt involves goods or services already obtained at sometime in the past.

Defenses To Worthless Check Charges

There are many ways to fight a felony charge for Obtaining Property by Worthless Check. Criminal defense attorney John Guidry has defended numerous cases with just as many different defenses. In other example, a prosecutor presented a handwriting expert to testify that the defendant wrote a $400+ bad check at Sears. At trial, the clerk at Sears never testified, thus there was never any evidence that the accused received merchandise in exchange for the check. In this case, the court struck down the felony charge, only allowing a misdemeanor. The state adequately proved a bad check was passed (via the handwriting expert), but failed to prove goods were received in exchange (only the clerk at Sears could testify to that). As stated above, there must be evidence that the accused receives something—anything—of value in exchange for the check.

As you may expect, it’s also difficult for the State to prove that the signatures on the checks match that of the accused. To prove a signature, one of two things must happen. First, the State may present a witness that is familiar with the defendant’s signature. Or, the State may present the expert testimony of a handwriting analyst to show that the signature on the check matches the handwriting of the defendant. In the case of Donna Jo Redmond vs. State of Florida (731 So.2d 77 (1999)), Ms. Redmond was accused of uttering a forged instrument by entering a check cashing store and requesting that they cash the check for her. The clerk knew the check was stolen, but still had Ms. Redmond sign the check and made a copy of Ms. Redmond’s state issued ID card. The appeals court overturned Ms. Redmond’s conviction, stating that the case was not proven because no evidence was ever presented matching Ms. Redmond’s signature on the check to the defendant in the courtroom at trial. The court noted that, had the State presented a handwriting expert or a person familiar with the Defendant’s signature, the case could have been proven. Yet, without such evidence, the case must be thrown out.

As you can see, worthless check charges are not simple. There are plenty of defenses to such accusations, and many hoops that our government must jump thru to prove their case. When you hire criminal defense attorney John Guidry to handle these serious felony accusations, know that he will leave no stone unturned. The good news is that Mr. Guidry is just a phone call away, and the call is free, so no monetary loss, only knowledge gain.