Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 51946-1-II Published Opinion.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 51946-1-II Published Opinion.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/D2%2051946-1-II%20Published%20Opinion.pdf ↗

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otherwise genuine document but instead involves “the manufacture of a false or spurious

document made to appear to be other than what it actually is.” State v. Esquivel, 71 Wn. App.

868, 870-71, 863 P.2d 113 (1993).

Smith analogizes his case to State v. Mark, 94 Wn.2d 520, 618 P.2d 73 (1980). In Mark,

a pharmacist completed Medicaid claim forms by writing a physician’s name in a space marked

“physician’s signature” in cases where he had received prescriptions from physicians over the

phone or where the prescriptions were renewable. Id. at 521-22. The Supreme Court granted

review to determine “whether the writing in of a physician’s name on the claim form was an act

of forgery if no prescription had in fact been received by the defendant.” Id. at 523.

The court concluded that the filling in of blank prescription billing forms without the

doctor’s authorization did not constitute forgery. Id.

[T]he physician’s name, when filled in by the defendant, did not purport to be the
signature of the physician; rather it was a representation that the physician had
prescribed the drugs for which claim was made. . . . [T]here was no showing that
the defendant forged any prescriptions. His offense was in representing to the
Department the number and kind of prescriptions which he had received. A
misrepresentation of fact, so long as it does not purport to be the act of someone
other than the maker, does not constitute forgery.

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For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
No. 51946-1-II

Id. (emphasis added).

Smith argues that as in Mark, the account applications at issue here are genuine

documents that he as the owner of A.J. Motors had the authority to complete; they simply