People v. Rodriguez
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PVE’s owner, Morales is a licensed civil engineer, with an engineering seal which he uses to stamp building plans and other documents requiring an engineer’s services. In December 2007, Morales found a folder on Gutierrez’s desk containing invoices for Gutierrez’s own company, with structural calculations and drawings displaying Morales’s seal and signature. Gutierrez stated he was working alone; Morales believed him. Gutierrez was terminated from PVE in 2008.
In 2014, Morales audited Rodriguez’s computer and discovered engineering documents for non-PVE projects with Morales’s seal and signature. Rodriguez, an engineering draftsman, admitted he worked on non-PVE projects using PVE’s logo and Morales’s seal and signature. Rodriguez was terminated. Morales notified the police. In February 2018, Gutierrez and Rodrigues were charged. The information alleged all of the charged criminal conduct occurred in 2009-2014 and was not discovered until March 2014.
Rodriguez was convicted of 238 counts of forgery and identity theft, eight counts of grand theft, and six misdemeanor counts of petty theft. Gutierrez was convicted of 193 counts of forgery and identity theft, six counts of grand theft, and six misdemeanor counts of petty theft. The court of appeal affirmed, rejecting arguments that the charges were time-barred based on a four-year limitations period. The trial court did not err striking Morales’s testimony regarding what comprises a document and allowing convictions based on each page of a plan set. Defendants were properly convicted of both forgery and identity theft based on the same document.
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