State v. Washington

The majority holds that an attorney’s performance falls below the range of competency demanded of attorneys in criminal cases when the attorney fails to advise his client that the lack of a signature on a forged check may be a defense to a charge of forgery, even though the client pleaded guilty (to a charge which was otherwise certain to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt) as part of a plea bargain and received a suspended sentence.1 I disagree on two bases.

First, I would construe the term “any writing purporting to have legal efficacy” in La.R.S. 14:72 as including any writing which might…