28-603 Forgery, second degree; penalty; aggregation allowed; when. - Nebraska Statutes

28-603. Forgery, seconddegree; penalty; aggregationallowed; when.(1) Whoever, with intentto deceive or harm, falsely makes, completes, endorses, alters, or uttersany written instrument which is or purports to be, or which is calculatedto become or to represent if completed, a written instrument which does ormay evidence, create, transfer, terminate, or otherwise affect a legal right,interest, obligation, or status, commits forgery in the second degree.(2) Forgery in the second degree is a Class III felony whenthe face value, or purported face value, or the amount of any proceeds wrongfullyprocured or intended to be procured by the use of such instrument, is onethousand dollars or more.(3) Forgery in the second degree is a Class IV felony whenthe face value, or purportedface value, or the amountof any proceeds wrongfully procured or intended to beprocured by the use of such instrument, exceeds three hundreddollars but is less than one thousand dollars.(4) Forgery in the second degree is a Class I misdemeanorwhen the face value, or purportedface value, or the amountof any proceeds wrongfully procured or intended to beprocured by the use of such instrument, is three hundred dollarsor less.(5) For thepurpose of determining the class of penalty for forgery in the second degree,the face values, or purported face values, or the amounts of any proceedswrongfully procured or intended to be procured by the use of more than onesuch instrument, may be aggregated in the indictment or information if suchinstruments were part of the same scheme or course of conduct which took placewithin a sixty-day period and within one county. Such values or amounts shallnot be aggregated into more than one offense. SourceLaws 1977, LB 38, § 125; Laws 2003, LB 17, § 7; Laws 2009, LB155, § 13.AnnotationsTo sustain a conviction for forgery, it is not sufficient for the State to show that a signature is not that of the party whose name is used, but it must also affirmatively be shown that the signing was made without his or her authority. State v. Castor, 262 Neb. 423, 632 N.W.2d 298 (2001).The elements of the crime of uttering a forged instrument are (1) the offering of a forged instrument with the representation by words or acts that it is true or genuine, (2) the knowledge that same is false, forged, or counterfeited, and (3) the intent to defraud. State v. Tate, 222 Neb. 586, 385 N.W.2d 456 (1986).