United States v. Roy C. Faulkner

This is an appeal from a conviction, following a jury trial, on all seven counts of an indictment charging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 500 (Forging, Passing and Uttering Postal Money Orders). Counts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 each charged appellant with forging the signature and endorsement of the purported payee on the reverse side of six different postal money orders provided by the Post Office Department of the United States. Counts 3 and 4 also charged appellant with forging the material signature of the purported purchaser on the money orders described in those two counts. Count 2 charged appellant with passing and uttering the money order described in Count 1 with knowledge that the endorsement thereon was false. Appellant received concurrent three-year sentences on all counts.

Appellant contends that the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the money orders in question were provided by or under the direction of the Post Office Department of the United States. This contention is without merit. Mrs. Dorothy Hawley, a postmaster with twenty-four years of experience, testified on cross-examination that to her they looked like valid postal money orders. She also…