Robert “Tanis” Justice, 42, of Brush Prairie, was convicted Jan. 18 of five counts of forgery, one count of identify theft in the first degree, and one count of theft in the second degree, all in connection with his employment with Polos Electronics of Battle Ground.
All the counts are felonies.
The jury was hung on four other counts – one count of identity theft in the first degree, two counts of forgery and one count of theft in the second degree.
Scott Ikata, who prosecuted the case for the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, said he has the option to retry Justice on the four counts on which the jury was hung.
According to evidence introduced at the 4-day trial, Justice was employed as an office manager at Polos Electronics in Battle Ground from June 2009 until May 2010. The business is owned by Andy Polos.
The jury concluded that, during his employment with Polos Electronics, Justice wrote company checks to himself without authorization to do so.
Trial testimony alleged that Justice forged Andy Polos’ signature on company checks that were made out to Justice. Memos on some of those checks stated they were written to reimburse Justice for expenses, while one stated it was for a Christmas bonus and another for a quarterly bonus. Andy Polos denied the authenticity of those checks and denied authorizing any bonuses.
“The defendant knew he did not have permission to cash those checks,” Ikata told the jury.
The trial included dueling handwriting experts who disagreed somewhat on the authenticity of the signatures on the questioned checks.
The handwriting expert for the prosecution concluded that Andy Polos “probably did not sign” several of the checks, and that there were “indications” that he did not sign another check. The poor image quality of the reproduction of another check did not allow a conclusion, he said.
The handwriting expert for the defense concluded that Polos could have signed the questioned checks given the “natural variations” in the way Polos signed his name.
One of the questioned checks appeared to pay Justice for work he did during the first two weeks of March 2010. But other testimony in the trial showed that Justice had already been paid for those two weeks via a different check.
Defense attorney Jeff Sowder presented invoices that Justice had allegedly submitted to Polos Electronics for photographic work that he did for the company. That work involved hundreds of photos taken by Justice at parties, job sites and elsewhere.
Polos said he was aware that Justice was an avid photographer, and that Justice took photos at various locations, but said he and Justice never agreed to any business arrangement under which Justice would be paid for taking photos.
“He was doing it (taking photos) because he wanted to,” said Polos. “He asked if he could set up a photo booth and take pictures” at a party that Polos hosted. “But I never hired him or had a business arrangement to pay him for photos.”
Witnesses told the jury that invoices offered by the defense did not appear in the preserved financial records of the company. Ikata suggested the invoices were fabricated.
“All fraudulent transactions went directly to the defendant,” said Ikata.
Polos testified that he never saw the invoices before they were presented by the defendant in July 2011. One invoice was for the sale of some tools owned by Justice to Polos. Polos said he never saw that invoice until presented by the defendant and never purchased any tools from the defendant.
“I submit to you that these invoices are not credible,” Ikata told the jury.
Sowder also offered a series of emails allegedly between Polos and Justice in which the two discussed payment for photographic work and other matters. Polos denied the authenticity of those emails.
Polos said he had socialized with Justice during the period of Justice’s employment and that the two were friends. The irregularities came to light, he said, when he received a call about a new account. He then began to review the details of his banking and credit card accounts, he said, leading to Justice’s May 10, 2010 termination.
Trial testimony indicated that Justice had initially admitted the misuse of company funds when confronted on May 10, 2010, and that Justice was repentant, saying he “wanted to make it right” and didn’t want the police involved.
“He was trusted with the finances and books of Polos Electronics,” said prosecutor Ikata, “and he violated that trust.”
Sowder was appointed by the court to defend Justice.
Thomas Mitchum, detective with the Clark County sheriff’s office, investigated the matter.
The Jan. 14-18 trial was conducted in the courtroom of presiding Judge Scott Collier, who set sentencing for either Feb. 15.
