WILLIS V. STATE
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF. IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JULY TERM, A.D. 2003 KYLE WILLIS, ** Appellant, ** vs. ** THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ** ** CASE NO. 3D03-166 LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 01-1276 Opinion filed September 24, 2003. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Mark H. Jones, Judge. Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Lisa Walsh, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant. Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Marni A. Bryson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and COPE, J., and NESBITT, Senior Judge. PER CURIAM. Kyle Willis appeals his conviction for forgery and uttering a forged instrument. We affirm. Defendant-appellant was employed by a business in Key West. The business owner had left a check for another employee to pick up. The check was signed and filled out for $290 which the owner owed the employee, but the payee line was left blank. The defendant stole the check, filled in his name on the payee line, and cashed the check at a local liquor store. He was convicted of theft, forgery, and uttering a forged instrument. He does not challenge the conviction for theft. On this appeal the defendant contends that his conduct does not qualify as forgery under section 831.01, Florida Statutes (2001), which provides in relevant part that [w]hoever falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits . . . . an order . . . for money . . . with intent to injure or defraud any person, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree . . . . We conclude that the defendant s conduct qualifies as the crime of forgery. He falsely made or altered the check by inserting his name as payee, with the intent to obtain $290 to which he was not entitled. See Rushing v. State, 684 So. 2d 856 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Ausburn v. State, 216 So. 2d 84 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968). Affirmed. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
