Forgery: Strict Liability for Presenting a Forged Check? (WILTD)

What I learned today:

1. Someone steals a blank check.
2. Sometime later, someone buys a couch from me (I say) using the stolen, now-forged check.
3. Three months after the check was stolen, I open a bank account using the forged check.
4. That I present the forged check for payment, without more, is enough to support a conviction for forgery.

Gina Williams v. State, Court of Appeals No. 49A02-0801-CR-44 (Ind. Ct. App. 8/27/08).

News to me. And Judge Najam's opinion cites a number of cases older than dirt for the proposition. Slip op. at 9-10. Maybe in this case, it was just that the stolen check was number 1050 and made out for $1050. (Jeesh.)

Maybe I need to create a new Dickensian category of post: "The Law is an Ass." And in this case, it seems to have been so for a long time.