Davis v. State (1957)

In Davis v. State, 164 Tex. Crim. 173, 297 S.W.2d 845 (Tex. 1957), the defendant worked as a supervisor for an insurance company and was charged with forgery by endorsement. 297 S.W.2d at 845. A check for payment on a claim was made out to the insured, Mabel B. Davis, but she never received it, and she later recognized the endorsement on the check to be a forgery. Id. Although the State presented testimony from two handwriting experts that the endorsement was made in the defendant's handwriting, there was no other evidence in the record to show the defendant made the endorsement and he denied under oath he endorsed the check. Id. at 846-47. The record showed the defendant had possession of the check at one time, but it did not show whether he possessed it at the time it was endorsed, as other people in the office had access to the check, and in the past, other checks had been misplaced. Id. at 846. The bank teller testified she did not recall cashing the check, but that in the ordinary course of business, she would not have cashed the check without the defendant first endorsing it. Id. Finding no evidence to corroborate the handwriting comparison testimony, the Court of Criminal Appeals held the evidence was insufficient to support the defendant's conviction for forgery by endorsement. See id. at 847.