Forgery

In criminal law. The falsely making or materially altering, with intent to defraud, any writing which, if genuine, might apparently be of legal efficacy or the foundation of a legal liability.

2 Bish. Crim. Law, § 523.

The fraudulent making and alteration of a writing to the prejudice of another man's right.

4 Bl. Comm. 247.

See Forger. Forgery, at common law, denotes a false making, which includes every alteration of or addition to a true instrument, of a matter of legal import, with an intent to defraud.

5 East, P. C. 852.

The false making an instrument which purports on its face to be good and valid for the purposes for which it was created, with a design to defraud any person or persons.

1 Leach, 366.

The thing itself, so falsely made, imitated, or forged; especially a forged writing. A forged signature is frequently said to be "a forgery." In the law of evidence. The fabrication or counterfeiting of evidence. The artful and fraudulent manipulation of physical objects, or the deceitful arrangement of genuine facts or things, in such a manner as to create an erroneous impression or a false inference in the minds of those who may observe them.

See Burrill, Circ. Ev. 181, 420.