WPIC 73.10 Unlawful Issuance of a Bank Check—Evidence of Intent

RCW 9A.56.060(1) provides that the uttering or delivering of a check without sufficient funds or credit with the bank to meet the check shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to defraud.

For a general discussion of the caution that needs to be used with regard to presumptions and inferences in criminal cases, see the Comment to WPIC 6.25 (Presumed to Intend Natural Consequences of Actions). For a similar discussion of “prima facie evidence,” see the Comment to WPIC 94.04 (Excessive Speed—Inference of Driving in a Reckless Manner).

In an evidence case not directly involving the statutory presumption, the Court of Appeals noted that if on the date of the charged crime the defendant had knowledge that he could not perform the promise he was making, evidence of that fact was relevant to the issue of whether the defendant acted with an intent to defraud. State v. Stanton, 68 Wn.App. 855, 862, 845 P.2d 1365 (1993).