Banner Elk, NC asked in Criminal Law, Civil Litigation and Civil Rights for North Carolina

Q: Is it illegal (criminally or civilly) to forge timestamps on a commitment custody order?

I am the victim of criminal abuse of the civil commitment process. Among the wrongdoings committed was the officer deliberately entering false timestamps on the custody order for the time taken into custody and time delivered to the examination unit. He deliberately entered both times as exactly the same, to cover-up the fact that he didn’t have the order in his possession when he took me into custody at my apartment.

Is this a crime? To deliberately enter false information on the custody order with the intent to deceive the magistrate and other courts? If not, is this civilly unlawful?

1 Lawyer Answer
W. Scott Harkey
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Answered

A: Forgery of Writings is a common law offense in North Carolina. Common law forgery occurs when someone 1) falsely makes or alters a writing; 2) at the time the person made or altered the writing they intended to defraud; 3) the writing appeared to be genuine; and 4) the writing, if genuine, would have an apparent legal effect or have evidence of another's legal rights.

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