Tate

The defendant was convicted of the crime of forgery and has appealed from the judgment. The complaining witness, Mrs. L. D. Feighner, is a married woman residing in San Francisco. The defendant is a married man residing in Oakland. He is a painter by trade and while doing some work in an apartment house in which the complaining witness resided they became acquainted. Their acquaintance became very intimate and the families visited each other at times covering a period of four years. The check which was the gravamen of the offense set forth in the information was drawn on the Humboldt Branch of the Bank of America for the sum of $11. It was dated September 8, 1931, was made payable to cash, and the name of L. D. Feighner was signed. The check was indorsed by L. G. Tate.

The defendant complains because the trial court limited his cross-examination of the complaining witness and did not allow him to show by that witness the meretricious relations that existed between her and himself. He asserts that it was his theory of the case that he was the authorized agent of the complaining witness and as such was authorized by her to draw the check pleaded in the information. If he had been…