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10.1 Introduction to Forgery
The elements of forgery are: 1) falsifying a written instrument or possessing a falsified written instrument, and 2) the intent to deceive, defraud, or injure. State v. Brown, 235 Conn. 502, 509 (1995); State v. Widlak, 85 Conn. App. 84, 91-92 (2004); State v. Henderson, 47 Conn. App. 542, 551, cert. denied, 244 Conn. 908 (1998).
The term "written instrument" "encompasses every kind of document and other items deemed susceptible of deceitful use in a 'forgery' sense, the main requirement being that it be 'capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person.'" Commission to Revise the Criminal Statutes, Penal Code comments, Connecticut General Statutes Annotated (West 2007) § 53a-137, p. 322. See State v. Edwards, 201 Conn. 125, 149-52 (1986) (the written instrument was the fingerprint card which the defendant signed at the time of his arrest with a fake name to obtain the advantage of a lower bond).
The forgery instruction must be narrowly tailored to the allegations. In State v. Hahn, 207 Conn. 555, 561-63 (1988), the Court reversed the defendant's conviction for insufficient evidence because the charging document alleged that the defendant "falsely completed" a mortgage deed, but there was evidence that the deed was missing vital information and was therefore not complete.
Intent
The intent element ("to deceive,
defraud or injure") is stated in the disjunctive so the intent could be any of
the three. State v. Yurch, 37 Conn. App. 72, 80, appeal dismissed, 235
Conn. 469 (1995). “Deceive indicates an inculcating of one so that he takes the
false as true, the unreal as existent, the spurious as genuine." Id. To
defraud means "to take or withhold from (one) some possession, right or interest
by calculated misstatement or perversion of truth, treachery, or other
deception." Id., 81. "To defraud, then, means to deceive in order to cheat or
to deceive in a manner calculated to cause injury." Id. Deceive does not
require an intent to injure because then it would mean the same as defraud.
"Our interpretation of an intent to deceive is supported by one of the purposes
for the criminalization of forgery, which is to safeguard 'confidence in the
genuineness of documents relied upon in commercial and business activities.' W.
LaFave, Criminal Law (1972) § 90, p. 671." Id., 81 n.10. See also State v.
DeCaro, 252 Conn. 229, 242 n.12 (2000) (deceive does not require an intent
to injure). In DeCaro, it was sufficient to show that the defendant
altered public documents in an effort to conceal her inadequate accounting and
record keeping and not necessarily to conceal larcenous conduct.
Other
Forgery in the second degree and
fabricating physical evidence are separate offenses. State v. Servello,
80 Conn. App. 313, 320-24 (2003), cert. denied, 267 Conn. 914 (2004)
(fabricating evidence is harm to the court, whereas forgery is harm to an
individual).