United States v. Samuel Perry Luckey, Jr.

Appellant has been convicted of the felony of bank larceny in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (b). The stolen property was a blank dividend check taken from the bank’s corporate trust department. The blank check, after having been taken from the bank, was filled in for the sum of $367.80, payable to appellant, together with a purported record date, payable date and dividend rate per share. The corporation “signature” was by rubber stamp. The stolen check was not an actual dividend check. It was what is termed a “leader” or sample, used at the beginning of each new printing run, and is distinguished from actual dividend checks by small holes punched through one or more blanks on the face of the check. Bank officials testified that the stolen check could never have been cashed at the bank from which it was stolen (or, perhaps, at any bank), since it could be identified as a leader and the stamped signature would have been recognized as a forgery. Nevertheless, appellant successfully cashed the check for its full face amount at a store where he was known.

At trial, appellant’s defense was that the stolen check at the time it was stolen did not have a value in excess of $100.…