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Uttering & Publishing (Forgery/Checks/Documents) is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in the State Penitentiary.

If you have been charged with this crime, do not speak to the police and do not delay!

Call us at 248-676-2233 NOW, and speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney.

False/Altered/Forged/Counterfeited

Forgery includes any act which fraudulently makes an instrument purport to be wha tit is not, including signing one's own name to a business check without authority to do so.  People v Susalla 392 Mich 387 (1974).

Proof that the names forged were fictitious would sustain a charge of Uttering and Publishing.  People v Marion29 Mich 31, 39 (1874).

Facially valid gift certificates obtained using a stolen credit card and falsified ID are false instruments for purposes of the U&P statute. People v Aguwa, 245 Mich App 1, 5 (2001).
 
 
Uttering and Publishing

To utter and publish a forged instrument, the forged instrument need not be accepted as good, but merely that is is offered as valid. 
People v Fudge, 66 Mich App 625, 632 (1976). Also, People v Caton, 25 Mich 388, 392 (1872).
 
 
CJI2d 28.2    Michigan Criminal Jury Instructions - Elements of the Crime
Uttering and Publishing
  1. The defendant is charged with the crime of uttering and publishing. To prove this charge, the prosecutor must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
  2. First, that the document in question in this case, [identify document],[FN 1] was [false / altered / forged / counterfeited], in that [state prosecution's claim].
  3. Second, that the defendant represented, either by words or actions or both, that the document was genuine or true and [exhibited / offered / presented] it.[FN 3]
  4. Third, that when the defendant did this, [he / she] knew that the document was [false / altered / forged / counterfeit].
  5. Fourth, that when the defendant did this, [he / she] intended to defraud or cheat someone.


Penalty under Michigan Codified Law (Statutory law)
750.249 Forgery of records and other instruments; uttering and publishing; exception.Sec. 249.
  1. A person who utters and publishes as true a false, forged, altered, or counterfeit record, instrument, or other writing listed in section 248 knowing it to be false, altered, forged, or counterfeit with intent to injure or defraud is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 14 years.
  2. This section does not apply to a scrivener's error.
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