that looks nothing like the cookout checks with cash and I mean I've seen a million counterfeit checks and that looks just like every one of them I've ever seen so THEN CAME HER EXPLANATION do you have the rest of the pay stub no I don't have it with me I threw it in the trash I mean I had no reason to keep it one phone call decided it yeah that is not our check this is not yours no ON NOVEMBER 29TH, 2021 OFFICERS WITH THE SAVANNAH POLICE DEPARTMENT IN GEORGIA RESPONDED TO A CHECK CASHING ESTABLISHMENT A WOMAN HAD PRESENTED A PAYROLL CHECK THE MERCHANT BELIEVED TO BE COUNTERFEIT TWO CHECKS SAME NO. 7 7 6 5 1 AUTHENTIC FOR FORTY THREE DOLLARS AND EIGHTY SIX CENTS THE OTHER IN THE WOMAN'S HAND DRAWN FOR ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY SIX DOLLARS AND FORTY FIVE CENTS THAT NUMERICAL GAP WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THE CHARGE IS A FELONY OR A MISDEMEANOR UNDER GEORGIA LAW you got gloves huh you got gloves no they're not on OK we've got to cook several cookout checks before that looks nothing like the cookout checks with cash and I mean I've seen a million counterfeit checks and that looks just like every one of them I've ever seen so okay apparently he said that he's cash ones like this before and that's not what they look like what I worked at I worked at uh cookout and I got that in the mail because I had moved that's that's all I know so I can cash do you have the rest of the pay stub no I don't have it with me I threw it in the trash I mean I had no reason to keep it what you cook at what you work at good morning Hansel good morning Hansel yeah I thought I got my last check in the mail before but that one came so I didn't I didn't think nothing about it I was gonna cash it excuse me you guys stay here with this officer she's gonna get from some information from me and I'll be right back you said that was your last check so how does this work if this check is uh supposed to be not good what do I do about it that's what the other officers gonna be able to explain once we figure out what's going on when did you get the check in the mail four days ago five days ago maybe it might have been before that because it it was brought to me like it was it came in the mail but it was brought to me because I'm not I'm still at my auntie's house so she's on hospice but uh so all my mail was brought to me how long ago did you stop working there probably about probably haven't been about a month that's what I'm saying like when when I I didn't think your last check would come in the mail anyways hi katherine this is corporal drunkowski with savannah police department how you doing i'm good how are you i'm great thanks um apparently you're the third person i spoke to uh we have a young lady here in savannah trying to cash uh one of y'all's checks and uh the place she's trying to cash it at says it's fraudulent and we're trying to verify whether it is or is not would you be able to tell me do you have the check or not yes ma'am okay would you be able to tell me um it says cookout what on it uh it says cookout dash Hinesville Inc Po Box 9 uh excuse me six nine eight Thomasville South Carolina blah blah blah okay what is the check number say uh the four digit number says 7 7 6 5 August 6 2021 that's the date uh the only date on here that I see says 21 11 22 my check No. 7 7 6 5 is written out to s s m Williams for forty three dollars and eighty six cents yeah no uh this one for check No. 7 7 6 5 is uh written out to a Deanna Heathcoat or hathcoat for 1,276 and 45 cents yeah no that's not and this is a um it says Wells Fargo dash n dot a dot yeah that is not our check this is not yours no it is not OK well I want to get their information thanks alright man uh hold on one second um check originally is only for like $100 and some odd cents oh and it's written for 12 67 and 45 yeah thanks for checking to see if this is gonna be a felony or not so how did they they didn't tell you they just said this is a fake check well they said that the check No. 7 7 6 5 was written in August of 2,021 for a hundred some odd dollars to Essence Williams oh they told they still that's what they told me that okay do you have anything on you that we need to know about this is my phone alright go ahead and put your hands behind your back is this all you have officer boy is gonna check you to make sure you don't have anything else so I don't I don't I mean I don't understand what's going on okay well we'll tell you in just a minute we're gonna get you a place in the back of the car you got anything on you no anything that's gonna stick me anything like that I don't have anything or a ball I just you got pockets in this just a second I'll explain it here OK GEORGIA DIVIDES FORGERY INTO FOUR DEGREES UNDER CODE SECTION 16 DASH 9 DASH 1 THROUGH 4 THE LINE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND DEGREE IS WHETHER THE FORGED INSTRUMENT IS UTTERED MEANING PRESENTED FOR VALUE THE LINE BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTH DEGREE IS THE FACE AMOUNT OF THE CHECK ITSELF $1,500 IS THE STATUTORY THRESHOLD ABOVE IT FELONY BELOW IT MISDEMEANOR THE CHECK AT ISSUE FELL TWO HUNDRED TWENTY THREE DOLLARS AND FIFTY FIVE CENTS BELOW THAT THRESHOLD EVERY DEGREE OF FORGERY REQUIRES THE SAME MENTAL STATE AN INTENT TO DEFRAUD MERE POSSESSION OF A COUNTERFEIT INSTRUMENT WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF ITS FALSE CHARACTER IS NOT THE OFFENSE THE SUBJECT STATED BELIEF THAT THE CHECK ARRIVED LEGITIMATELY IN THE MAIL IS THEREFORE LEGALLY SIGNIFICANT THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE THE CONDUCT BUT IT PLACES KNOWLEDGE SQUARELY AT ISSUE AT TRIAL PROBABLE CAUSE WAS ESTABLISHED UNDER THE TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES TEST FROM ILLINOIS V. GATES 1983 THE OFFICER HAD A MERCHANT'S REPORT HIS OWN TRAINED RECOGNITION OF COUNTERFEIT INDICATORS AND THE PAYER'S CONFIRMATION THAT COMBINATION CLEARS THE FOURTH AMENDMENT THRESHOLD FOR A WARRANTLESS ARREST UNDER UNITED STATES V. WATSON THE SEARCH OF THE SUBJECT'S PERSON WAS AUTHORIZED BY CHIMEL V. CALIFORNIA 1969 UNITED STATES VERSUS ROBINSON PERMITS A FULL SEARCH OF THE ARRESTED INCIDENT TO A LAWFUL CUSTODIAL ARREST check No. 7 7 6 5 was written out on August 6 2021 to a Essence Williams no I didn't say her name is Diana after so as of right now the check that you give to the teller is fraudulent completely fraudulent what does that mean I I I know what that means but what does that mean for me I don't that's what I don't I don't that's the specifics that we're trying to find out but at this moment it's your 1095 I don't know which means that you're under arrest and what is the charge for fraud use of fraudulent charges how does that work I mean what I will explain that later I'm just explaining this part to you so is that a check that is a completely 100% fabricated check that somebody else probably got yeah I made it look real are they sending somebody I'm waiting to get back this is Washington yeah he's gonna call me back in just a second so they're gonna figure out if they're gonna send a property crimes detective or a financial crimes detective well it's financial crimes not property what is what is what is going on alright so your charges are gonna be for forgery in the fourth degree what does that mean this this is only gonna be a misdemeanor so what's gonna happen is you're not you're not going to the jail okay what we have to do is we have to fill out some paperwork you're gonna be given a subpoena I believe I have to take you to forensics to be fingerprinted okay and then once we finish with that you'll be good to go to be cut loose okay so let's let me get the paperwork and stuff done and then we'll go from there alright if anything changes I will let you know thank you alright so what's gonna happen is I'm gonna take you over to forensics and they're gonna fingerprint you and then once they're done fingerprinting you I can either let you out of the gate if you want and you can call someone to come pick you up from there or if there's somewhere nearby I can drop you off you can you'll get your phone back that's okay you'll get your phone back hold on one second so due to the jail not accepting misdemeanors what we're doing is they're fingerprinting and then you'll get us what's called a subpoena form this form right now it just says TBD so it has the address that you gave me they'll mail you a subpoena to let you know when your court date is and everything once you get that then all you have to do is show up to court oh I can fight this right I mean like it's something that's fightable you'll get to tell your side of it from to the court okay so normally you would be taken to the jail like I said because they're not accepting misdemeanors at the moment they won't you won't be taken to the jail it's still the same process it's just you're not sitting in a cell something interesting THE ABSENCE OF A MIRANDA WARNING ON THIS RECORDING IS NOT BY ITSELF A LEGAL DEFECT MIRANDA V. ARIZONA 1966 APPLIES ONLY TO CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION UNDER BURKIMER VERSUS MCCARTNEY ON SCENE QUESTIONING AT A PLACE OF BUSINESS IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY CUSTODIAL THE SUBJECT'S PREARREST STATEMENTS ARE THEREFORE ADMISSIBLE IN THE STATE'S CASE IN CHIEF THE DECISION TO RELEASE ON A WRITTEN SUBPOENA RATHER THAN TO BOOK WARRANTS A SEPARATE LEGAL NOTE WHERE A COUNTY DETENTION CENTER DECLINES MISDEMEANOR INTAKE A FIELD CITATION PRESERVES PROSECUTION WITHOUT VIOLATING DUE PROCESS THE ARREST OCCURRED IDENTIFICATION WAS CAPTURED AND THE CHARGING DOCUMENT WAS SERVED THAT IS PROCEDURALLY SUFFICIENT FOR THE ARRESTING CORPORAL THE GRADE IS A MINUS INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION CORRECT STATUTORY SELECTION RESTRAINED DEMEANOR THROUGHOUT THE ONLY DEDUCTION IS SUBSTANTIVE PRE ARREST QUESTIONING CONDUCTED BEFORE PROBABLE CAUSE HAD FULLY CRYSTALLIZED FOR THE SUBJECT THE GRADE IS C+ COOPERATION PREVENTED ADDITIONAL CHARGES FROM BEING ADDED BUT THE VOLUNTEERED NARRATIVE AND THE DISCARDED PAY STUB GAVE THE STATE ITS EVIDENTIARY CASE FOR THE DEPARTMENT A MINUS REFLECTING PROCEDURAL ADAPTABILITY AND A PROFESSIONAL OPERATIONAL CULTURE TWO LESSONS FOLLOW FROM THIS RECORD USEFUL WELL BEYOND THE SPECIFIC FACTS OF THIS CASE FIRST SILENCE IS A RIGHT A DETAILED UNVERIFIED NARRATIVE GIVEN TO OFFICERS BECOMES ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE AGAINST THE SPEAKER SECOND A CHECK OVER $1,000 FROM A FORMER EMPLOYER WARRANTS A VERIFICATION CALL BEFORE PRESENTATION DUE DILIGENCE IS NOT A LEGAL DUTY BUT ITS ABSENCE CORROBORATES THE STATE'S THEORY OF INTENT yeah I was about to say just stand there for a second we're cleaning up after the gentleman before you so here's yours your coffee and all set thank you you're welcome thank you for being patient with me thank you you're welcome I can either let you out at the gate and you can walk that's up to you or I can drop you off at the actual gas station that was up to you what kind of gas station is it people want to see me getting dropped out by the police that might not look good and you got all your paperwork LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF THERE IS AN INTERACTION OR LEGAL TOPIC YOU WOULD LIKE US TO DISCUSS THANK YOU FOR WATCHING AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL FOR MORE CONTENT ON POLICE COURT INTERACTIONS