JUSTICE LYTTON delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff, Brian P. McIntyre, filed a complaint against the defendants, Twin Oaks Savings Bank (Bank) and Robert E. Harris (Harris), the Bank's executive vice-president. McIntyre alleged that the defendants coerced him into signing a $2,000 personal note made payable to the Bank after the Bank had erroneously paid out a check over McIntyre's valid stop payment order. The defendants counterclaimed, demanding payment on the overdue note. After a bench trial, the court found in favor of the defendants. On appeal, McIntyre contends: (1) the trial court erred in ruling that Sandra Bennett, the payee on the check, was a holder in due course; (2) McIntyre was denied a fair trial when the defendants introduced a copy of his prior felony conviction into evidence; and (3) one of the defendants' exhibits was an altered document. We affirm.

In mid-October 1996 McIntyre's company, Total Home, placed a telemarketing call to Sandra Bennett. As a result, Ray Archie visited Bennett's home and quoted her a price to repair her roof. McIntyre testified that since his company did not repair roofs, he referred the job to Archie. Bennett, however, believed that Archie worked for Total Home.

At trial, McIntyre identified defendant's exhibit 2, a carbon copy of a proposal written by Archie for Bennett's roof. The price for the job was $3,850, including $2,000 for materials. At the bottom of the proposal, Archie had signed his name and written "House Doctor" as the company performing the work. At the top of the proposal, "Total Home" was written in ink.

Around October 19, 1996, McIntyre visited Bennett and told her that in order to complete the job, it was necessary for her to give Archie $2,000 for the materials. Bennett wrote a check to Total Home for $2,000 that day. In return, McIntyre wrote Bennett a check for $2,000 and postdated it to October 28, 1996. Bennett said that McIntyre told her that she could cash his check if her roof was not repaired by October 28, 1996. McIntyre cashed Bennett's check and deposited it in his business account at the Bank. Even so, McIntyre maintained that he was simply acting as an intermediary for Archie.

McIntyre admitted that Bennett's roof was not repaired by October 28, 1996. Nevertheless, on November 14, 1996, he ordered the Bank to stop payment on the check to Bennett.

Around November 27, 1996, the Bank erroneously paid out on McIntyre's check over his stop payment order. After McIntyre learned that the Bank had withdrawn the $2,000 from his business account, he spoke with Harris and told him that the withdrawal would cause his account to be overdrawn. He then went to the Bank and signed an agreement to pay the Bank $2,000 plus interest due by July 1, 1997. In return, the Bank agreed to leave the $2,000 in his account. McIntyre admitted that he never paid on the note and at the time of trial he was currently 2