Torrance, Felony Forgery at Kevin Jewelers, Dismissal

Summary: Client with three prior convictions for felony forgery (Penal Code § 470) arrested at Kevin Jewelers in Del Amo Mall, attempting to buy a watch with a fraudulent credit application after being driven to the store by a loan shark, case dismissed based on duress.

With our client, he agreed to accept jewelry in lieu of the $2,000 loan owed. Accordingly, Juan drove our client to Kevin Jewelers in the Del Amo Mall. Juan instructed our client to go in the store and bring back a diamond and a nice watch. Juan remained in the car, waiting for our client.

Our client nervously went into the store and did the only thing he knew how to do – forge a credit application to obtain the diamond and the watch, which were worth far in excess of the sum owed to Juan. Our client claimed he was someone else who he knew had good credit. In our experience, when this happens, the “someone else” is sadly usually a family member whose birth date the suspect remembers, as well as the middle name and perhaps even a driver’s license number. Here, we never found out exactly who this was.

Before our client could leave the store with the diamond and the watch, police came to the store to arrest our client after Kevin Jewelers recognized the credit application as fraudulent.
Torrance Police Department

The client then came to Greg Hill. He was distraught and resigned to serving significant prison time. He only wanted Greg to minimize the prison time as much as possible.

Greg immediately recognized that the crime had not been completed, as Kevin Jewelers never actually transferred possession of their product to our client. At most, it was attempted grand theft. Kevin Jewelers also knew that our client was simply making up a fictitious person to have his credit application approved. In other words, the client was not forging the signature of anyone who even existed. Most importantly, there was a duress issue, too, as Juan sat in the car outside the store, forcing our client to commit the crime.

Greg met with the detective assigned to the case and explained these shortcomings in the case. The detective listened respectfully, but never acknowledged the issues as being a problem. The detective seemed especially skeptical of the claim that Juan was sitting in the car outside Kevin Jewelers.For more information about the issues in this case summary, click on the following articles:

1. What Is Forgery?
2. Dismissal of Forgery Charges Reversed Although Defendants Impersonated No One During Scheme
3. What Can I Do About My Criminal Record on the Internet When The Court Dismissed My Case?

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