Opinion No. (1999)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General ANTHONY S. Da VIGO Deputy Attorney General

JEROLD A. GODDARD has requested this office to grant leave to sue in quo warranto upon the following:

On July 7, 1998, defendant was charged with the crime of forging a vehicle registration license tag in violation of Vehicle code section 4463 , subdivision (a)(1), 1 a felony. The criminal complaint alleged:

"On or about October 27, 1997, in the County of Los Angeles, the crime of FORGERY OF A REGISTRATION TAB, in violation of VEHICLE CODE SECTION 4463 (a), a Felony, was committed by JOHN LYNN OLIVER, who did unlawfully and with intent to defraud, alter, forge, counterfeit, and falsify a registration card to and for a motor vehicle. . . ."

The basis for the charge was that defendant, over a seven-year period, fabricated a number of annual registration license tags for his vehicles, including a boat and trailer. He affixed the unauthorized facsimiles to several of his vehicles during this period and kept the materials for making the forgeries in his garage. He purchased a van in 1990 without registering it, and did not pay annual registration fees for the van over the seven-year period. On October 27,…