Opinion ID: 2508099
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Check forgery case

Text: At the time of the murder, defendant faced check forgery charges in an unrelated case. The victim, Milt Jaffey, was the general manager of the Desert Rose Center for the Arts (Desert Rose), a fitness center in Barstow. Jaffey used Desert Rose as his mailing address for his checking account. In June 1990, he left his job at Desert Rose and moved to Long Beach. He instructed the bank to forward the checks that he had previously ordered to his new address, but the bank failed to do so. In the beginning of September 1990, Danny Smith became the manager of the Torches Motel in Barstow. About that time, defendant rented a room at the motel and began working at Desert Rose as a karate instructor. During the first part of October 1990, defendant asked Smith to cash some checks for him. Smith cashed several checks, including two written on Jaffey's account. Jaffey then discovered that the bank had cashed two forged checks against his account, one payable to Danny Smith and the other to Michael Combs. Both checks bore numbers of a series higher than those in Jaffey's possession. Defendant was charged with forging Jaffey's checks. On October 16, 1990, the trial court released defendant from custody on his own recognizance. On October 23, 1990, defendant appeared in court regarding the scheduling of a preliminary hearing. On defendant's request, the court continued the hearing for two weeks.