Case Name: Billy J. SMITH, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1955-10-19
Citations: 282 S.W.2d 876
Docket Number: No. 27710
Parties: Billy J. SMITH, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
Judges: 
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 282
Pages: 876–876

Head Matter:
Billy J. SMITH, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
No. 27710.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
Oct. 19, 1955.
Howze & Howze, by Murray J. Howze; Monahans, for appellant.
Leon B. Douglas, State’s Atty., Austin, for the State.

Opinion:
DAVIDSON. Judge.
This is a - conviction for forgery, with punishment assessed at two years in the penitentiary. ' - .
Under the statute, Art. 979, P.C., an essential element of the crime of forgery is the making "without lawful authority" of a false instrument in writing, purporting to be the act of. another, with the intent to injure or defraud.
The instant indictment contains no allegation that the check described therein, wfiich upon its face purported to be the act of another,-was made "without lawful authority".
The absence of such allegation renders the indictment fatally defective. Branch's P.C., Sec. 1403, p. 856; Willson's Criminal Forms, No. 430; Pye v. State, 71 Tex.Cr.R. 94, 154 S.W. 222.
Accordingly, the judgment is- reversed and prosecution ordered dismissed.