Not So Funny Money

What is the name of your state? tx

3 weeks ago a friend was arrested in saginaw(tarrant county)
trying to spend a bad 50. i had seen it previously when asked if
i thought it was bad. at first glance it was fine however upon close inspection it was obviously different than normal. he said he was going to spend it anyway and i thought "might as well"
that turned out to be the wrong answer and i was shocked to learn how wrong. he got the bill as change from a garage sale(actually an estate sale) and denied that he suspected it was bad.
i would have accepted it had i not been told to inspect it thoroughly. there is only the state charge against him, nothing federal at all. isnt that supposed to be a federal crime?
by the letter of the law he was wrong but i feel responsible to a degree. the prosecution has to prove " knowingly with intent to defraud" . how can he win this case? all he had was that bill, no outstanding warrants, no trouble of any kind. whats to be expected as the states attempt at proof? any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The problem for him is that he "suspected" that it was a bad fifty. Feds usually will not bother with a simple case like this. Simple for them, not your friend. He is going to have to lie and oncew that starts you are in trouble.

what bothers me about the matter is that up until his arrest
i would have done the same thing. the law concerning this seems somewhat antiquated, using terms like utterance and stones. it would seem to target an individual knowingly invoved in counterfeiting rather than someone who ended up with the hot potato. it seems that 15 yrs max is somewhat steep for someone
who was a victum to begin with. also, in playing on semantics,
suspecting a bill is fake versus knowing it are different. i realize
this is leaning towards rationalizing his innocence because by the letter he is guilty. i just want to find a loophole for him if possible.
at least there are a few of us checking our money thoroughly now. thanks for the time and assistance.

What exactly was he charged with? In my state we don't have a state charge that fits funny money. Not to say though that I haven't seen people charged at the state level. Could be the same with your friend.

it was something to the effect of forgery of a governmental document. no indictment as of yet. i'm trying to learn about grand jury procedure to see if it can be no-billed or how to go about presenting his side of the story. it appears every seeming small step in legal procedures entails volumes of information and
alot of thought. at least its more productive than video games.
thankyou for your insight.

"*Manufacturing* counterfeit United States currency or altering genuine currency to increase its value is a violation of Title 18, Section 471 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both.

*Possession* of counterfeit United States obligations *with fraudulent intent* is a violation of Title 18, Section 472 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both. "

There is a difference between passing around and actually making (forgery) fake money. See the facts below:

http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_receive.shtml

For any readers interested in the characteristics of counterfeit and real money, this web site at U.S. Treasury Dept is pretty informative:

http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_detect.shtml

Are you sure it was only *one (1)* bad fifty?

well, for anyone interseted, here is the texas law concerning
the bill........


Sec. 32.21. FORGERY. (a) For purposes of this section:
~ ~ (1) "Forge" means:
~ ~ ~ (A) to alter, make, complete, execute, or authenticate any writing so that it purports:
~ ~ ~ ~ (i) to be the act of another who did not authorize that act;
~ ~ ~ ~ (ii) to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case; or
~ ~ ~ ~ (iii) to be a copy of an original when no such original existed;
~ ~ ~ (B) to issue, transfer, register the transfer of, pass, publish, or otherwise utter a writing that is forged within the meaning of Paragraph (A); or
~ ~ ~ (C) to possess a writing that is forged within the meaning of Paragraph (A) with intent to utter it in a manner specified in Paragraph (B).
~ ~ (2) "Writing" includes:
~ ~ ~ (A) printing or any other method of recording information;
~ ~ ~ (B) money, coins, tokens, stamps, seals, credit cards, badges, and trademarks; and
~ ~ ~ (C) symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification.
~ (b) A person commits an offense if he forges a writing with intent to defraud or harm another.
~ (c) Except as provided in Subsections (d) and (e) an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
~ (d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if the writing is or purports to be a will, codicil, deed, deed of trust, mortgage, security instrument, security agreement, credit card, check or similar sight order for payment of money, contract, release, or other commercial instrument.
~ (e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the writing is or purports to be:
~ ~ (1) part of an issue of money, securities, postage or revenue stamps;
~ ~ (2) a government record listed in Section 37.01(2)(C); or
~ ~ (3) other instruments issued by a state or national government or by a subdivision of either, or part of an issue of stock, bonds, or other instruments representing interests in or claims against another person.
~ (f) A person is presumed to intend to defraud or harm another if the person acts with respect to two or more writings of the same type and if each writing is a government record listed in Section 37.01(2)(C).

32.21 (f) would appear to show that no law was broken although
why would he have been arrested in the first place?

People get arrested because they don't read the whole law. Read intill you find something that fits and then stop reading. The next sentence might change the whole thing around but if nobody reads it then nobody knows about it. If nobody knows then people just figure they are guilty and plead it out.