Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I wrote a check that bounced, now the district Attorneys office is calling.

I wrote a $20.44 check at Target. This is the first time I miscalculated my funds and the check bounced. This is the first time I have done thins. I have no criminal record. And when Target nitified me about the problem I sent them another check with additional charges. This week I received a call from the DA's office and they told me they wanted me to enroll in a bad check writting clasas and wanted me to pay a 200 dollar fine. I called Target and they told me if they will clear my account if I send them another check. But the DA has that second check I wrote with the late charges and they told me they were holding it as evidence. Are they serious!???? Over 20 dollars??? That I tried to pay back!!! The mistake happened because Target doesnt deposit the checks immediatly and I had an emergency purchase to make. I am employeed and have never experienced anything like this before. I do not want to attend the class nor do I want to pay a 200 dollar fine. I think this is crazy. I am planning on refusing to pay the DA's fine and want to know if I go to court will the DA show up and will the judge take this seriously. Should I?


Asked on 11/09/06, 12:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: I wrote a check that bounced, now the district Attorneys office is calling.

Will the D.A. show up? Absolutely. He's the one who started the case against you by filing charges, so your court date is his idea. If he was sufficiently interested in the case to charge you he will be sufficiently interested to appear at your hearing and to continue pressing the case.

Will the court take this seriously? Yes. Intentionally passing bad checks is a crime regardless of the amount involved. Whether you did this intentionally is a question of fact, and the D.A. clearly believes you did. The judge has no authority to order the charges dropped even if he disagrees.

You should also keep in mind that you may well be guilty as charged. It sounds like you knew you had insufficient funds and mistakenly believed you could make a deposit before Target negotiated the check. In other words, it seems you knowingly wrote a bad check but thought it would be good by the time it was deposited. What matters to the D.A. is that you knew when you wrote the check that you had insufficient funds at the time. That is how the crime is defined. Believing Target wouldn't deposit the check right away might not be a legally sufficient defense.

Offhand I don't know what penalty you might face if you go to trial and are convicted, but it will surely be a lot worse than what you are being offered. You should consult with a criminal attorney to see what your options are.

And whatever you do, don't tell *anyone* other than prospective defense attorneys about how this happened. Your statements to anyone else could be used against you in court as admissions of guilt.

Good luck.

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Answered on 11/09/06, 4:17 pm


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