Forgery is the act of creating or altering a document with intent to defraud. Uttering is the act of passing, offering, or using that document knowing it is false. The two charges often ride together: if you wrote a bad check and then cashed it, the State will stack both counts. If a friend handed you a check and you cashed it without knowing it was forged, you should only be facing uttering, and only if the State can prove you actually knew. Knowledge is the pressure point in every uttering case. Text messages, prior dealings, and your behavior after the transaction all feed into whether a jury believes the knowledge element. Experienced defense lawyers focus relentlessly on that element because a jury with any doubt about what you knew cannot convict on uttering.