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Name: People v. Hagedorn
Case #: F044370
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Opinion Date: 03/17/2005
Subsequent History: Rev. den. 6/29/05
Summary

Appellant was convicted of a violation of Penal Code section 530.5, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, for using a copy of another person’s social security card and birth certificate to cash a check (issued in the other person’s name, but intended to reimburse him for work he had performed). On appeal, he contended that section 530.5 violated due process as applied to him because it did not give him fair warning that he was committing a crime by cashing a check in the name of another for work he himself had performed without causing harm to the issuer of the check, the store, or the person whose identity he used. He contended that the statue required an intent to defraud. The appellate court rejected the argument, finding that the statute on its face clearly and unambiguously does not require an intent to defraud. Nor does the legislative history of the statute support appellant’s theory. The statute contemplates and proscribes the use of someone else’s identity to obtain credit or goods. It does not require an intent to defraud the person whose identity is assumed.