United States v. Carmen Leyva

Carmen Leyva appeals her conviction of ten counts of forging and uttering United States Treasury checks in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 495 . The checks were Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks, issued in the name of appellant’s deceased grandfather.

Appellant is a thirty-six year old Spanish-American woman who has lived all but four years of her life in the United States where she secured education through the fifth grade. At about 8:30 in the morning on January 9, 1980, two Secret Service special agents went to appellant’s home in Sacramento County, California, to question her regarding the checks. They identified themselves and informed appellant that they wished to question her, but that she was not under arrest and that they were not going to arrest her, and that any interview would be voluntary. Appellant allowed the agents to enter, and the interview took place in her kitchen. The agents took several handwriting exemplars from appellant, took her personal history in elaborate detail, and then showed her the forged checks and asked if she had endorsed her grandfather’s name and cashed the checks. She admitted doing so, and stated that her ex-husband had forced her to do…