With discovery by the state now complete, a tentative trial date of Feb. 27 or Feb. 28 has been set in a Columbia County felony case involving a 33-year-old woman alleged to have forged 50 checks from her grandmother’s account, valuing over $21,000.
Appearing in local criminal circuit court Thursday, Jessica L. Vines of Waldo is charged with 50 counts of second-degree forgery, as well as two pending probation revocation cases associated with debit-credit card theft and property theft convictions from 2016 and 2017. Vines is represented by Lindsey Thomson of Ashdown.
Vines was arrested in November by the Magnolia Police Department and released from the Columbia County Detention Center Dec. 20 on $50,000 bond, according to the facility’s inmate records. She was scheduled for a revocation hearing Thursday, but Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Phillips recommended that those docket items now be combined with the new forgery case.
“If we do have to move forward, we ask that the revocation case be tried at the same time as the substantive case,” he said.
Although a jury trial date is set, a plea offer has been made in the case, and the defense has listened.
“We are considering an offer,” said Thomson.
In total, Vines is charged with writing checks valuing $21,722.42 from her Magnolia grandmother’s account, without permission or authority, from March through July 2018, according to court documents.
Phillips on Thursday said he had turned over copies of each check in question to the defense, along with “relevant” video footage and police investigative reports.
According to a Magnolia Police Department probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 18, 2018, checks in the grandmother’s name were written to Vines, then cashed with a signature not belonging to the victim.
“[The grandmother] said she did not write the checks, nor did she sign the checks or authorize the checks to be cashed,” the affidavit said.
The report also stated that “the signatures do not appear to be similar” and Vines was seen on bank video during the transactions.
The defendant is next scheduled to appear in Columbia County Circuit Court Thursday, Feb. 7. The trial, should the case advance that far, is expected to be a one-day proceeding.
Forgery-second degree is a Class C felony in Arkansas. If convicted, one count could net up to 3-10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.