Opinion ID: 1147225
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the $16,000 check in question had value and was subject to embezzlement.

Text: Appellant contends that the check was of no value since it was stale and had a stop payment order placed upon it. Section 75-4-404 of the Miss. Code Ann. (1972), provides that just because a check is classified as stale, i.e., six months old, does not mean that a bank cannot cash the check. In Bell v. State, 251 Miss. 511, 170 So.2d 428 (1965), the Court held that credit cards described in the indictment were the property of the person, firm or corporation to whom they were issued and that they had value to the owner, although the value may have only been nominal. Other jurisdictions have held that the value of a negotiable check has been defined as the amount for which it is drawn. Examples follow: The value of a negotiable check has been defined as the amount for which it is drawn. State v. Evans, 669 S.W.2d 708, 711 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1984). See State v. McClellan, 82 Vt. 361, 73 A. 993 (1909) (check payable to holder, though unendorsed, could be the subject of larceny, and its value would be the amount it represented); Bigbee v. State, 173 Ind. App. 462, 364 N.E.2d 149 (1977) (value of check made payable to cash is that amount written on its face); People v. Marques, 184 Colo. 262, 520 P.2d 113 (1974) (prima facie value of a check is its face value). The value of a check is usually held to be the amount for which it is drawn, but, if the check is worth less than that amount, its actual or market value seems to be the determinative factor. 52A C.J.S., Larceny § 60(2)(b). Appellant argues that the check had no value, yet he negotiated the same and received the $16,000 face value for it. The issue is rejected.