COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Chief Judge Fitzpatrick, Judges Bumgardner and Felton 

Argued at Salem, Virginia 

ROSALYNN WHITE SPRUILL 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 3054-01-3 JUDGE WALTER S. FELTON, JR. 

 NOVEMBER 26, 2002 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF DANVILLE 

Joseph W. Milam, Jr., Judge 

 Robert W. Williams, Jr., Assistant Public 

Defender (Office of the Public Defender, on 

brief), for appellant. 

 Steven A. Witmer, Assistant Attorney General 

(Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, on 

brief), for appellee. 

 Rosalynn Spruill was convicted in a bench trial of (1) aiding 

and abetting forgery, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; (2) aiding 

and abetting uttering, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; and (3) 

aiding and abetting petit larceny, in violation of Code 

§ 18.2-96(2). On appeal, she contends the evidence was 

insufficient to support a conviction on all three counts because 

she did not commit an overt act or share the criminal intent of 

the actual perpetrator. We affirm the judgment of the trial 

court. 

 

* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not 

designated for publication.
I. BACKGROUND

A. OFFENSES AND INVESTIGATION

On the afternoon of January 31, 2001, Rosalynn Spruill, 

Pamela Wright, and Audrey Johnson entered a Toys-R-Us in the 

city of Danville as part of a daylong shopping trip. Ms. Wright 

is Spruill's niece and lives with her in Greensboro, North 

Carolina. Ms. Johnson, also a Greensboro resident, is their 

friend and closely resembled Spruill. 

 At 1:42 p.m., Doricia Eanes, a cashier at the Toys-R-Us, 

was presented with a counterfeit American Express traveler's 

check in the amount of one hundred dollars. A black woman with 

reddish-orange hair tendered the traveler's check as payment for 

some store merchandise. To complete the transaction, the woman 

presented a driver's license identifying her as "Bridgett Hayes" 

and signed the check using that name. 

 During the transaction, Ms. Eanes observed two other black 

women standing at the register with the customer who presented 

the counterfeit check. She saw neither of these two women 

handle the merchandise nor participate in the transaction. Ms. 

Eanes did not observe any interaction between the three women 

other than their standing together at the cash register. When 

the transaction was complete, the women left the store together. 

 At approximately 7:10 p.m. that evening, a 2001 Chevy 

Blazer, traveling eighty miles per hour in a posted fifty-five 

miles per hour zone, sped past Virginia State Trooper Steve 

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Shelton, Sr. on Route 29 near Gretna, in Pittsylvania County. 

Before he could activate his blue emergency lights, the vehicle 

pulled over. When the vehicle stopped, Trooper Shelton saw 

Spruill get out of the rear passenger side door and get into the 

driver's seat, switching places with the driver, Pamela Wright. 

 Trooper Shelton approached the vehicle, and Spruill gave 

him her North Carolina driver's license. Despite Spruill's 

insistence that she was the one driving, Trooper Shelton also 

asked to see Ms. Wright's license. Ms. Wright admitted that she 

had been driving and that her license was suspended. She gave 

Trooper Shelton her social security number, which he used to run 

a criminal background check. The background check reflected 

that Ms. Wright had an outstanding warrant and that the vehicle 

had been reported stolen from the Greensboro, North Carolina 

area. Trooper Shelton placed all of the vehicle's occupants 

under arrest. 

 Incident to the arrest, Trooper Shelton impounded the 

vehicle and conducted an inventory search. The search yielded 

twenty-seven, $100 denomination, blank counterfeit American 

Express traveler's checks. The counterfeit traveler's checks 

were discovered in a pouch located on the back of the front 

passenger seat, directly in front of where Spruill was sitting 

immediately before the vehicle was stopped by Trooper Shelton. 

In addition to the counterfeit traveler's checks, Trooper 

Shelton found numerous packages from Toys-R-Us and Wal-Mart as 

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well as sales receipts from Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart, Footlocker, and 

Target. Trooper Shelton contacted Detective J.T. Henderson of 

the Danville Police Department and gave the traveler's checks to 

him. 

 During his investigation, Detective Henderson determined 

the traveler's checks to be counterfeit and that one of them was 

presented on January 31, 2001, to Toys-R-Us in Danville in 

exchange for merchandise. In addition, he obtained photographs 

of the three women arrested by Trooper Shelton. Detective 

Henderson created three photo arrays with each woman's photo 

shown in a different array and in a different location within 

the array. On February 6, 2001, Detective Henderson showed each 

of the arrays to Ms. Eanes. She identified the photo of Spruill 

as the woman who signed and presented her with the traveler's 

check. 

B. TRIAL

 Spruill was charged with (1) forgery, in violation of Code 

§ 18.2-172; (2) uttering, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; and 

(3) petit larceny, in violation of Code § 18.2-96(2). During 

the bench trial, a certificate of analysis, prepared by Richard 

Horton of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science, was 

admitted into evidence. The certificate of analysis provided 

the results of a comparative handwriting analysis performed on 

the counterfeit traveler's check and twenty-one known writings 

by Spruill. The forensic analysis determined that "[t]here are 

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indications the author of Item 1, Rosalynn Spruill, did not 

write the questioned entries on the front of [the American 

Express traveler's check]." 

 Baron Daniel, director of the security division for 

American Express, was called to testify regarding the 

counterfeit checks. 

Q [Mr. Reynolds, Commonwealth's attorney]: 

Without revealing any trade secrets or 

anything, can you tell us whether or not 

that particular Item #2 is an authentic 

American Express Traveler's Check? 

A [Baron Daniel]: The most obvious feature 

is the Centurion in the lower left center of 

the front of the check, in the center. This 

is supposed to be a silver holographic foil 

that illuminates in different shades when 

you turn the check. That's the most 

obvious. We don't duplicate our serial 

numbers and there have been several 

replications of this serial number on the 

night of this incident that we are already 

aware of. 

Q: In addition to the twenty-seven checks 

that were recovered by the police in this 

particular incident? 

A: Yes. 

Q: Had there been other instances where 

checks of that same serial number had been 

passed? 

A: Yes, sir. 

Q: Where? 

A: Initially in the Winston Salem [sic], 

Greensboro area. That started around the 

18th of January. 

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Q: Where else? 

A: Then to this area of Virginia, 

Martinsville, Danville, Roanoke and that's 

most of my recollection, around the 

Greensboro area. 

Q: How about Lynchburg? 

A: Lynchburg, that's right. 

Q: All right. Is that an authentic 

traveler's check? 

A: No, sir, it's an ink jet photocopy of a 

traveler's check. 

 At trial, Spruill testified in her own defense. She 

admitted she was with Ms. Wright and Ms. Johnson at the 

Toys-R-Us on January 31, 2001. She further testified that she 

and Ms. Johnson looked similar in appearance and that on the day 

of the offense, Ms. Johnson's hair color was burnt orange. 

However, she claimed she had no knowledge of the transaction 

between Ms. Johnson and Ms. Eanes at the Danville Toys-R-Us. 

Spruill testified that at the time of the transaction between 

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Eanes, she was not at the cash register, but 

sitting down on a bench near the door. She further testified 

that when she got into the vehicle with her roommate-niece that 

morning in Greensboro, North Carolina, she did not know where 

they were going, and was just along for the ride. She denied 

knowing why they traveled to Virginia to shop at Wal-Mart, 

Toys-R-Us, or Footlocker. Spruill was found guilty of aiding 

and abetting forgery, uttering, and petit larceny. 

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II. ANALYSIS

 Spruill contends on appeal that the evidence was insufficient 

to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she aided and abetted 

forgery, uttering, and petit larceny. We disagree. 

When the sufficiency of the evidence is 

challenged on appeal, it is well established 

that we must view the evidence in the light 

most favorable to the Commonwealth, granting 

to it all reasonable inferences fairly 

deducible therefrom. The conviction will be 

disturbed only if plainly wrong or without 

evidence to support it. 

Jones v. Commonwealth, 13 Va. App. 566, 572, 414 S.E.2d 193, 196 

(1992). The credibility of the witnesses and the weight 

accorded their testimony are matters solely within the province 

of the fact finder. Long v. Commonwealth, 8 Va. App. 194, 199, 

379 S.E.2d 473, 476 (1989). 

 "The law is settled that mere presence is not sufficient to 

establish that one is a principal in the second degree, an aider 

and abettor to the commission of a crime." Hall v. 

Commonwealth, 225 Va. 533, 536, 303 S.E.2d 903, 904 (1983). 

However: 

it is certain that proof that a person is 

present at the commission of a crime without 

disapproving or opposing it, is evidence 

from which, in connection with other 

circumstances, it is competent for the 

[judge or] jury to infer that he assented 

thereto, lent to it his countenance and 

approval, and was thereby aiding and 

abetting the same. 

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Hampton v. Commonwealth, 32 Va. App. 644, 648-49, 529 S.E.2d 843, 

845 (2000) (quoting Foster v. Commonwealth, 179 Va. 96, 100, 18 

S.E.2d 314, 316 (1942)). 

 In considering the totality of the circumstances, the 

evidence in this case establishes that Spruill and her companions 

undertook a scheme to present counterfeit traveler's checks to 

stores in Virginia. As part of that larger scheme, a counterfeit 

traveler's check was passed at the Danville Toys-R-Us. Mr. 

Daniel, the security division director for American Express, 

testified that beginning around January 18, 2001, counterfeit 

checks of the same serial number as the Toys-R-Us check were 

initially passed in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North 

Carolina area where Spruill and Ms. Wright were residents. 

Approximately a week and a half later the counterfeit checks began 

showing up in Martinsville, Danville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke. 

 On January 31, 2001, Spruill got into a stolen vehicle with 

her niece and housemate, Pamela Wright, and another friend, 

Audrey Johnson, whom she resembled in appearance. The trio left 

Greensboro, North Carolina for an all-day shopping spree in 

Virginia. Once in Virginia, the women made stops at common 

retailers, including Wal-Mart, Footlocker, and Toys-R-Us, in the 

Danville and Lynchburg areas. 

 At the Danville Toys-R-Us, Ms. Johnson presented a 

counterfeit traveler's check in exchange for merchandise while 

Spruill and Ms. Wright stood by. Twenty-seven additional blank 

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counterfeit traveler's checks, bearing the same serial number as 

the counterfeit check passed by Ms. Johnson at the Danville 

Toys-R-Us, were discovered in a pouch on the back of the seat 

immediately in front of where Spruill was sitting when Trooper 

Shelton first stopped their stolen vehicle. 

 The trial judge was not required to believe Spruill's 

testimony that she was unaware of the purpose and destination of 

their trip when she lived with Ms. Wright and was good friends 

with Ms. Johnson, whom she resembled. The trial judge also was 

not required to believe that she possessed no knowledge of the 

counterfeit traveler's checks or knowledge of the transaction at 

the Toys-R-Us when twenty-seven counterfeit traveler's checks 

were discovered in a pouch immediately in front of where she was 

sitting when Trooper Shelton stopped their vehicle. Finally, 

the trial judge was not required to believe that, at the 

Toys-R-Us, she was sitting on a bench near the door when Ms. 

Johnson presented the counterfeit check when the cashier placed 

her at the cash register with the other two women during the 

transaction. Finding Spruill's testimony to be incredible, the 

trial judge may infer that she was attempting to conceal her 

guilt. Black v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 838, 842, 284 S.E.2d 608, 

610 (1981). 

 Viewing the totality of the circumstances, the trial judge 

could reasonably conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Spruill 

assented to, lent her countenance and approval, encouraged, and 

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was thereby aiding and abetting a common plan and scheme to 

commit forgery, uttering, and petit larceny, using counterfeit 

American Express traveler's checks. 

 The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. 

 Affirmed. 

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