Com. v. Toombs, L., 1507 WDA 2016

Toombs was convicted after a bench trial of forgery, theft by deception, bad checks, and receiving stolen property in Washington County; sentences were three concurrent terms of 16 to 32 months, with RRRI reducing minimum to 12 months.
The Commonwealth's proof centered on Toombs presenting a check for $6,880.30 he claimed was a valid payment, which bank personnel believed fraudulent and advised reporting to police.
The check was deemed fraudulent, and Mid-Atlantic later returned it with the label “altered or fictitious.”
Toombs withdrew $6,500 from his savings account after the fraudulent check was presented at the Racetrack Road branch, using his own driver’s license for the withdrawal.
Toombs later failed to make payback arrangements and gave inconsistent explanations about the check and his spending, prompting police involvement.
Toombs sought nunc pro tunc relief and timely post-sentence relief; the trial court denied and the Superior Court affirmed on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Toombs failed to establish forged or fraudulent intent.	Toombs contends no single defect identified the check as fraudulent and he lacked knowledge of fraud.	Evidence sufficient to prove forgery and related offenses beyond reasonable doubt.
Weight of the evidence	The court relied too heavily on the ‘altered/fictitious’ stamp to sustain guilt.	The trial court abused its discretion by misbalancing the evidence supporting guilt.	No abuse; verdict supported by the record and court’s weight determinations.

Commonwealth v. Biesecker, 161 A.3d 321 (Pa. Super. 2017) (sufficiency review standard; verdict review favors Commonwealth if evidence supports elements)
Commonwealth v. Ford, 141 A.3d 547 (Pa. Super. 2016) (avoid re-weighing evidence; court defers to fact-finder on credibility)
Commonwealth v. Lyons, 79 A.3d 1053 (Pa. 2013) (weight of the evidence standard; appellate scrutiny limited)