Lesson number two is simple: don't make an illegal left turn while you are driving on a suspended license. It's one thing to get a ticket for an illegal left turn; that's a minor traffic offense, usually. It's something else to get a ticket for driving on a suspended license. If you have a suspended license, the lesson is simple: don't drive, and if you do drive, don't drive illegally!
But lesson number three from Forney is the big one: when you go to pay for your ticket for making an illegal left turn on a suspended license, don't pay with a $50 bill that just happens to be counterfeit.
See, here is where any lawyer could have helped Forney out. The advice would be simple: don't try to pass off a phony bill to the police. They don't like it so much. This is especially true with respect to a simple misdemeanor, like driving on a suspended license. The Melville police were more than happy to upgrade Forney to a felony charge of possessing a forged instrument.
The lessons we learn from Forney are ones we should always remember. It's the first rule of holes: when you are in a hole, stop digging. Forney didn't remember that, and he kept on digging until a simple illegal left turn landed him in prison. If he'd had good legal advice at least before he went to pay his ticket, he never would have used funny money.
But then, it's probably good for the legal profession that he didn't come to a lawyer. Can you imagine being the guy who gave legal advice in exchange for some counterfeit coin?
