Commonwealth v. Kurschinske

Virginia Kurschinske (defendant) was the manager of Spanky’s Tobacco World (Spanky’s) in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Spanky’s sold lottery tickets, and the Pennsylvania Lottery sent an investigator to Spanky’s in 2017 to investigate abnormally high scratch-off ticket sales. When the investigator arrived at Spanky’s, Kurschinske introduced herself as Amanda and signed the name “Amanda Hicks” on a verification form provided by the investigator. Amanda Hicks was the name of another Spanky’s employee. Kurschinske also falsely denied having authority to activate scratch-off lottery tickets and having access to Spanky’s lottery inventory, though she eventually told the investigator the truth about those matters and revealed her real name. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (the commonwealth) (plaintiff) charged Kurschinske with forgery and unsworn falsification to authorities. At a jury trial, the commonwealth presented testimony from the investigator regarding Kurschinske’s deception during the investigation. The investigator testified that Kurschinske had initially identified herself as Amanda, that he had discussed certain Pennsylvania Lottery policies with the person he believed was Amanda, and that the person had signed the name Amanda Hicks to a verification form acknowledging her review of those policies. The investigator further indicated that after he learned Kurschinske’s true identity, he gave Kurschinske the verification form again, and she signed her correct name without being coerced to do so. Kurschinske testified in her defense that she was rattled on the day of the inspection and believed that the investigator’s credentials were not real. Kurschinske also testified that she signed Amanda Hicks’s name on the verification form because she did not realize the form was official and thought she was simply writing the name of a Spanky’s contact person on scrap paper. Kurschinske denied having seen the verification form and signing either her own name or Amanda Hicks’s name on the form. The trial court granted Kurschinske a judgment of acquittal on the forgery charge, but the jury convicted Kurschinske of the unsworn-falsification charge, and the court sentenced Kurschinske to six months’ probation. Kurschinske filed a post-sentence challenge to the weight of the evidence supporting her conviction, which the court denied. Kurschinske appealed, asserting again that her conviction was against the weight of the evidence.