Bad Checks in Texas
Her Story
The story I heard (and that's apparently been shared with others) goes like this.
- Once upon a time Karen was in love.
- Once she got engaged her betrothed started to beat her, so she ran far away so she couldn't be found.
- Her evil fiance punished her by emptying her bank account.
- She, not knowing of his evil plot, continued to write checks, never once trying to use her ATM card.
- By the time she found out what had happened, it was too late. She was convicted.
It's a good story, and when she tells it you believe it. You even feel sorry for her. Once you know more about her though, this starts to look like just another line of BS.
The Documentation
Apparently she was convicted of check fraud, but the Texas State web site dealing with this information is severely out of date -- it looks like all this happened before things were digitized.
Here's the information I've been able to find so far that document the check fraud issue in the order of events:
- She had a misdemeanor charge dismissed
- Karen told me (and others) she had a felony conviction, but the closest I could find in my search was where her probation for felony theft by check was extended. This looks like deferred adjudication -- where a first offender gets charges dismissed after probation is completed successfully. From what I've seen in my searches I can't say Karen's a "convicted felon;" just that she faced felony charges and went through deferred adjudication.
- She was fined again later