Ferguson

Gregory Maurice Ferguson appeals from a judgment of imprisonment after one jury found him guilty of four counts of grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487) charged in an information and another jury found him guilty of one count of check fraud (Pen. Code, § 476a) charged in a separate information. The facts of the two cases, designated in the trial court as MCR 3597 and MCR 3598, will be reviewed separately.

MCR 3598

The information charged appellant in one count with passing a total of 35 checks with insufficient funds. Appellant opened a checking account at the Wells Fargo Bank with a deposit of over $300. One week later, appellant closed the account claiming he had lost his checkbook. Using the balance of the closed account and an additional $200, appellant opened another account at the same bank. This account was closed less than a month later.

Appellant wrote about 35 checks on the two accounts; the checks were written over a 2-month period and involved more than 20 payees. These checks were never paid because the accounts had been closed or had insufficient funds. Most of the checks bore a notation of “promissory note” or “not for deposit”; this notation was often written…