Ronnie McNair v Commonwealth of Virginia

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: 	Judges Bray, Overton and Senior Judge Baker
Argued at Norfolk, Virginia
RONNIE McNAIR MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY
v. 	Record No. 2632-97-1 	JUDGE JOSEPH E. BAKER
DECEMBER 1, 1998
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Von L. Piersall, Jr., Judge
Michael Rosenberg (Richardson & Rosenberg,
L.L.C., on brief), for appellant.
Steven A. Witmer, Assistant Attorney General
(Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on brief),
for appellee.
Ronnie McNair (appellant) appeals from his bench trial
convictions by the Circuit Court of the City of Portsmouth (trial
court) on multiple counts of forgery, uttering, and petit
larceny. 	The charges resulted from appellant's involvement with
blank checks stolen from the Westhaven Church of God (the
Church). 	Finding no error, we affirm the convictions.
The judgment of a trial court will be disturbed only if
plainly wrong or without evidence to support it. 	See Martin v.
Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 438, 443, 358 S.E.2d 415, 418 (1987).
The credibility of a witness' testimony and the inferences to be
drawn from proven facts are matters solely for the fact finder's
determination. 	See Long v. Commonwealth, 8 Va. App. 194, 199,
*Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, recodifying Code § 17-116.010,
this opinion is not designated for publication.

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379 S.E.2d 473, 476 (1989).
Appellant was charged with forgery, uttering, and larceny in
connection with several checks stolen from the Church and drawn
on its bank account. 	He initially contended that the Church was
not a legal entity qualifying to be prejudiced as "another" as
set forth in Code § 18.2-172. 	That statute provides:
If any person forge any writing, other than
such as is mentioned in §§ 18.2-168 and
18.2-170, to the prejudice of another's
right, or utter, or attempt to employ as
true, such forged writing, knowing it to be
forged, he shall be guilty of a Class 5
felony. 	Any person who shall obtain, by any
false pretense or token, the signature of
another person, to any such writing, with
intent to defraud any other person, shall be
deemed guilty of the forgery thereof, and
shall be subject to like punishment.
At oral argument, appellant conceded that this contention was
without merit. 	We agree.
Appellant further contended and argued that the evidence was
insufficient to support his convictions. 	We disagree. 	Because
this opinion has not been designated for publication and,
thereby, has no precedential value, we make only limited
references to the facts supporting his convictions.
Stated most favorably to the Commonwealth, granting to it
all reasonable inferences fairly deducible therefrom, see
Higginbotham v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 349, 352, 218 S.E.2d 534,
537 (1975), the evidence proved that the Church had a checking
account with NationsBank. 	Only three persons were authorized to
draw checks on the Church account: 	Reverend Frank Allen, Verlene

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Raily and Peggy Jarman. 	In August 1996, several blank checks,
including check numbers 1006, 1007, 1047, 1278 and 1299, were
stolen from the Church.
The Commonwealth's evidence sufficiently proved that
appellant wrote check number 1278 and gave it to Johnnie
Williams, who cashed the check and split the proceeds with
appellant. 	Appellant gave check numbers 1047 and 1299 to Donnell
Scott, who cashed them and kept the proceeds. 	A forensic
scientist with the Division of Forensic Science examined check
numbers 1047, 1278 and 1299 and concluded that appellant wrote
these checks. 	The evidence also sufficiently proved that
appellant gave Patricia Collins check numbers 1006 and 1007,
which were forged with the drawer name Jeffery Walker. 	Collins
cashed the checks and gave the proceeds to appellant.
We hold that the record supports each of the convictions
appealed and, accordingly, affirm the judgments of the trial
court.
Affirmed.