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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 36865 STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JUDY ANN MENDOZA, Defendant-Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 2011 Opinion No. 49 Filed: August 11, 2011 Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk

Appeal from the District Court of the Fifth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Twin Falls County. Hon. Randy J. Stoker, District Judge. Judgment of conviction and sentence for forgery with a persistent violator enhancement, affirmed. Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Elizabeth Ann Allred, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; John C. McKinney, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. ________________________________________________ GUTIERREZ, Judge Judy Ann Mendoza appeals from her judgment of conviction and sentence for one count of forgery with a persistent violator enhancement. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND On January 6, 2009, Jerry Haman went into a business and asked the employee to cash a one hundred dollar bill for ten and twenty dollar bills. The employee took the bill, but noticed that it did not feel right--it seemed thin, and the color was "off." After the employee confirmed that the bill was not legitimate with a money marking pen, she called for the store manager who also determined that the bill was counterfeit and called the police. After the police arrived they confirmed that the bill was indeed counterfeit, and after talking with Haman they located Mendoza sitting in the driver's seat of a car in the parking lot of the store. One of the officers informed Mendoza that Haman had been detained inside for trying to pass a counterfeit bill and 1

asked her if she had any more of the same money. Mendoza informed the officer that she had another one hundred dollar bill in her purse. After examining the bill, the officer concluded that it was also counterfeit. After being placed under arrest, Mendoza explained that a friend named Peggy had given her the money to pay back a debt. However, when the officer asked Mendoza more about Peggy, Mendoza admitted that she had been lying to him and that she did not get the money from anyone by that name. Mendoza instead explained she received the money from another person she knew but whose name she could not pronounce and had no means of contacting. Mendoza further said that she paid Haman ten dollars to cash the one hundred dollar bill for smaller bills. Mendoza was charged with one count of forgery, Idaho Code

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