[Tez]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania

I got a summons in the mail for a private complaint claiming that i was wrote them a bad check from an account that had been closed for around a year. I drove tractor trailer for a while and this was my account when I drove and I closed it when i came off the road. The last place that i saw this checkbook was when i had my roommates, a couple that i stayed with on my weekends home, put it somewhere where the kids wouldnt get into it. When I was moving out I asked about the checkbook and the extra checks and they said they couldnt remember where they put it but they would let me know if they found it. Now around a year later, I'm getting summons for writing checks out of this. I have all my returned checks and the handwriting is definately nowhere close to being mine. I just tracked down the couple that I suspect of writing these checks and I go tomorrow to file a report with the police.. I have a summary trial coming up on the 24th and have no idea whats going to happen. You can clearly see that I didnt write any of the six checks that bounced, but I cannot prove that they wrote them either.. What might happen? Am I gonna get put in jail until I can prove who wrote them? Will the proof that its not my signature be significant to keep me from going to jail for this? I don't know what to do right now and I sure as heck can't afford a lawyer to tell me what to do .. PLEASE HELP!!

[gigirle]

For starters, go to the police station NOW and file that report. Then, when the bank opens up first thing in the morning, go there and take your checks with your signature. Explain that you were not aware that the checks were being used. It is not your job to prove or disprove they did indeed write the checks. Thats what the police do, investigate crimes. Your attention and cooperation to the matter will be needed.

Did you get ANY notices in the mail regarding the checks BEFORE the summons to court? This would include any forwarded mail from the bank attempting to contact you?

[Tez]

I never got anything before the summons to go to court. I can't go to the police station until tomorrow as i need a babysitter for my daughter. I spoke with them tonight and they told me to come in whenever my earliest convenience was. I plead not guilty to the summons by mail. I spoke with the bank and got all the returned checks from them. The signatures are nowhere close to mine, and you can tell it was 2 different people writing these checks.. One is definately female writing, and way neater than i could ever dream of writing