Opinion ID: 1724578
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Credible Evidence to Sustain Conviction.

Text: No motion for acquittal was made at the conclusion of the state's case, and, therefore, the evidence adduced by defendant as well as by the state is to be considered in passing on the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence to convict. Sec. 943.38 (2), Stats., under which defendant was charged provides: Whoever utters as genuine or possesses with intent to utter as false or as genuine any forged writing or object mentioned in sub. (1), knowing it to have been thus falsely made or altered, may be fined or imprisoned or both as provided in said subsection. Defendant centers his attack upon the fact that there was no direct evidence adduced that he knew that the signature of the payee Sutton was forged at the time defendant negotiated the check. One of the detectives testified that the police document examiner had concluded that this forged signature was not in the handwriting of defendant. In addition to Bell's direct contradiction of defendant's story as to how defendant had come into possession of the check, there are other factors which would warrant the trial court in concluding that defendant's testimony was a fabrication. Defendant possessed no means of transportation of his own to go from the Ruth tavern to the Keller Liquor Store, get the liquor and transport it back to the tavern. He testified that upon Bell's sending him on this errand he stepped outside the tavern and saw a stranger in a car about to pull away from the curb. Defendant then asked this stranger to take him to Keller's and return to the Ruth tavern with the liquor. The stranger agreed to do so. Upon returning to the tavern defendant paid this stranger either seventy-five or fifty cents, but defendant did not ask Bell for reimbursement of this expenditure. Neither did defendant receive any remuneration from Bell for performing the errand. It was within the province of the trial court to completely disbelieve defendant. Proceeding on the premise that defendant's story as to how he acquired the check was not true, it is a reasonable inference that he would not have fabricated such a story if he had acquired the check innocently. Other significant facts are these: The check was dated June 26, 1963, and had been mailed to Sutton, but Sutton never received it. The very next day defendant negotiated the check at Keller's. Sutton testified he had known defendant since May, 1963. Defendant also knew where Sutton lived as defendant had been seen two years before in the building where Sutton resided. All of this gives rise to a reasonable inference that defendant had not acquired the check innocently and must have known that Sutton's signature on the back was a forgery. In State v. Johnson [8] this court made it clear that the approach it takes when reviewing a trial court's determination of guilt based on circumstantial evidence is no different than when a determination is based on direct evidence. We quote from that opinion as follows: The trial judge found he was convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. On this appeal it is our duty to determine whether the circumstantial evidence is sufficient to sustain the finding of the trial court. State v. Schweider (1959), 5 Wis. (2d) 627, 94 N. W. (2d) 154. This court does not retry the case on the facts in the record to determine if each of its members is convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. An appellate court cannot function as a trial court or as a jury. Its duty and right is to determine whether the evidence adduced, believed and rationally considered by the jury, was sufficient to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hanks (1948), 252 Wis. 414, 31 N. W. (2d) 596; Parke v. State (1931), 204 Wis. 443, 235 N. W. 775, and cases cited therein. See also State v. John, ante, p. 1, 103 N. W. (2d) 304. The rule is no different when the trial court is the trier of the facts. State v. Evjue (1949), 254 Wis. 581, 37 N. W. (2d) 50. [9] We conclude that there was sufficient credible evidence to sustain the judgment of conviction. By the Court. Judgment affirmed.