Harris v. State

• Decision Date: 05 February 1947
• Docket Number: No. 23544.,23544.
• Citation: 199 S.W.2d 522
• Parties: HARRIS v. STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 522

199 S.W.2d 522

HARRIS v. STATE.

No. 23544.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

February 5, 1947.

Appeal from Criminal District Court, Tarrant County; Willis M. McGregor, Judge.

George Harris was convicted of forgery and passing as true a forged instrument, with previous convictions, and he appeals,

Affirmed.

No appearance for appellant.

Alfred M. Clyde, Cr. Dist. Atty., Ardell M. Young, Asst. Cr. Dist. Atty., W. E. Myres, Asst. Cr. Dist. Atty., and Leo Brewster, all of Fort Worth, and Ernest S. Goens, State's Atty., of Austin, for the State.

GRAVES, Judge.

Appellant was charged with the offense of forgery, and also with passing as true a forged instrument in writing, and included therewith were two alleged previous convictions for felonious offenses less than capital; and upon his conviction by the jury for this third offense, he was given a life sentence in accordance with Article 63, P.C.

The facts proven by the State show the two prior convictions for felonious offenses, and those relative to the present forgery show that a person giving the name of Louis Fisher presented a check on a bank in Fort Worth drawn thereon on the "I. N. McCrary Special Account by I. N. McCrary", for the sum of $1500, and indorsed on the back thereof "Louis Fisher," "I. N. McCrary." Upon request of the paying teller, Louis Fisher again indorsed such check in her presence. It was shown that appellant and Louis Fisher were one and the same person. This check was dated August 3, 1945, and same was paid by the bank's teller. Mr. McCrary had another account in such bank, and at the end of the month, his cancelled checks in both accounts were mailed to him. However, the cancelled checks for August, 1945, did not come to his hand for some reason although the bank's records show same to have been mailed to him; and the withdrawal of this amount of $1500 from his account was not known until the succeeding month of September. Mr. McCrary was Mayor or Councilman of the City of Fort Worth at such time, maintaining an open office down town, and many persons had entry to his office during the months of August and September, 1945. The check for $1500 testified to was made out on a printed form utilized for McCrary's use, but same was never found, although search therefor was made by McCrary as well as the bank. It, therefore, became necessary to prove the existence of same by means of secondary evidence, the State being forced to allege in the indictment its substance rather than its tenor.

It was also shown that many blank checks out of the two check books prepared for and used by Mr. McCrary had been abstracted from his book, being about 35 in number, and that appellant was in possession of some of the other and further checks, thus serially numbered and of the same character as the one here complained of, and that some of the same were utilized by appellant in drawing further sums of money from Mr. McCrary's accounts at such bank.

Appellant offers only one bill of exceptions and that relates to a motion to quash certain allegations in the indictment wherein there appears the following paragraph:

"That the Grand Jury is unable to give a better description of the instrument above mentioned, because the Grand...