Com. v. Zipp, D., 1689 MDA 2015

In March 2014, Kathleen Wright discovered her Raven .25 caliber handgun missing from an unlocked gun cabinet in her bedroom after her stepson, Derek Zipp, had stayed there multiple times.
Wright told police she suspected Zipp and said he had tried to sell the gun to neighbor Chad Hall.
Hall testified Zipp came to his house in late March 2014 with the Raven .25 and offered to sell or trade it; Hall declined.
Robert "Red" Mentzer also testified Zipp offered to sell him the same handgun and that he observed the gun in Zipp’s possession.
Zipp denied taking or possessing the gun and denied trying to sell it.
A jury convicted Zipp of persons not to possess a firearm (18 Pa.C.S. §6105(a)(1)); he was acquitted of receiving stolen property and sentenced to 4–10 years. Post-sentence motions were denied and Zipp appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to prove possession	Commonwealth: eyewitness testimony (Hall, Mentzer) that Zipp had and offered the Raven .25 established possession.	Zipp: evidence was insufficient; he denied possession and selling the gun.	Court: Evidence sufficient—jurors credited Hall and Mentzer; conviction affirmed.
Weight of the evidence / credibility of witnesses	Commonwealth: jury entitled to believe its witnesses; testimony supported conviction.	Zipp: verdict against weight because jurors overvalued Commonwealth witnesses, who gave inconsistent/self-serving accounts.	Court: No relief—verdict did not shock the conscience; trial court may not usurp jury credibility determinations.

Com. v. Antidormi, 84 A.3d 736 (Pa. Super. 2014) (testimony of eyewitness can alone support a finding of possession)
Com. v. Jones, 874 A.2d 108 (Pa. Super. 2005) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Com. v. Widmer, 744 A.2d 745 (Pa. 2000) (standard for granting a new trial on weight-of-the-evidence grounds)