Opinion ID: 1658665
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Denial of Motion to Quash: Alternative Unlawful Acts to Support Manslaughter Charges

Text: In his first assignment of error, Brouillette contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to quash the amended information. Brouillette was charged with two counts of manslaughter under § 28-305, which defines manslaughter as killing another unintentionally while in the commission of an unlawful act. The amended information sets forth predicate unlawful acts as to each count in the alternative. Brouillette asserts that Nebraska law does not allow the State to allege alternative unlawful acts as the predicate to a single count in an information charging manslaughter. He argues that § 28-305 requires that a defendant be charged in separate counts, each based on a separate unlawful act such that the jury is required to return a separate verdict on each count. Brouillette further argues that various prior opinions of this court which tend to contradict the arguments he asserts are distinguishable. The State does not agree with Brouillette's contention. The State argues that the amended information was proper under § 28-305 and that the issue raised by Brouillette is controlled by Schluter v. State, 153 Neb. 317, 44 N.W.2d 588 (1950), and other cases, such as State v. West, 217 Neb. 389, 350 N.W.2d 512 (1984), and State v. Brunzo, 262 Neb. 598, 634 N.W.2d 767 (2001). The State notes that in West and Brunzo, this court has made clear that certain crimes are single crimes that can be proved under different theories, and that because each alternative theory is not a separate crime, the alternative theories do not require that the crime be charged as separate alternative counts. We agree with the State's analysis and reject Brouillette's argument. Schluter, supra, involved a challenge to the jury instructions in a manslaughter case. In analyzing the primary issue on appeal in Schluter, this court observed that the State was not required to specify in the information upon what particular unlawful act a count of manslaughter was based or, if specified, to thereafter elect upon which of several alleged unlawful acts a prosecution for manslaughter was based. We stated that because the State was not required to specify the particular unlawful act, such specification in the information was mere surplusage which did not render the information defective. Id. at 324, 44 N.W.2d at 593. Brouillette attempts to distinguish Schluter by noting that Schluter was based on an earlier version of the manslaughter statute, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-403 (Reissue 1975), which defined manslaughter as killing another unintentionally while the slayer is in the commission of some unlawful act, whereas the current manslaughter statute, § 28-305, defines manslaughter as killing another unintentionally while in the commission of an unlawful act. (Emphasis supplied.) Brouillette asserts that although some in the old statute may be read to encompass a number of unlawful acts, the Legislature's abandonment of the phrase some unlawful act in favor of an unlawful act exhibits an intent to define manslaughter as an unintentional death that results during the commission of a single identified unlawful act. Brouillette further argues that under the current manslaughter statute, § 28-305, each alleged unlawful predicate act supports a distinct count of manslaughter and that a proper information should allege each unlawful act as supporting a separate count of manslaughter. West, supra, involved motor vehicle homicide and a challenge to the form of verdict. In WEST, the defendant was convicted of motor vehicle homicide in violation of § 28-306, which made it a crime to cause the death of another unintentionally while engaged in the operation of a motor vehicle in violation of the law of the State of Nebraska. The defendant contended on appeal that the verdict returned by the jury which did not specify the underlying violation of the law was unclear and ambiguous and that he was therefore entitled to a new trial. In rejecting the defendant's argument, this court noted that based on the charges in the information and the evidence presented at trial, the jury could have found that the defendant operated a motor vehicle in violation of the law in one of three ways: (1) while under the influence of alcoholic liquor, or (2) when he had more than the legal limit of alcohol in his body fluids, or (3) in a reckless manner. We recognized that each of the three acts recited above which were mentioned in the information constituted a distinct violation of the law but determined that only the single offense of motor vehicle homicide was charged against the defendant and that the offense of motor vehicle homicide was a single crime which may be committed in a number of ways. In West, we concluded that [w]here one is charged with the commission of a crime which may be committed in a number of ways, a general verdict finding the defendant guilty of the crime charged is sufficient and is not ambiguous. 217 Neb. at 398, 350 N.W.2d at 519. Implicit in the reasoning in West is the acknowledgment that the information charging the single offense of motor vehicle homicide was not improper. In State v. Brunzo, 262 Neb. 598, 634 N.W.2d 767 (2001), the defendant had been convicted of first degree murder in violation of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-303 (Reissue 1989). In a motion for postconviction relief, the defendant alleged that the information charging him was legally defective and that his counsel was ineffective for having failed to move to quash the information. The district court denied postconviction relief, and we affirmed. The information charging Brunzo with first degree murder recited the language of § 28-303 and specified the felonies of robbery, kidnapping, and/or criminal attempt as the basis for felony murder. The information did not set out the elements of the underlying felonies. We concluded that the information charging the defendant gave him fair notice of the charges he would face and the crime he was later convicted of. 262 Neb. at 606, 634 N.W.2d at 774. The crime of first degree murder under § 28-303 constitutes one offense even though there may be alternative theories by which criminal liability for first degree murder may be charged and prosecuted. State v. White, 254 Neb. 566, 577 N.W.2d 741 (1998). One such theory is felony murder. Id. The felony which serves as the predicate for felony murder in turn may be based on allegations of alternative facts. Explicit in Brunzo is the approval of the information charging the single offense of first degree murder under the theory of felony murder, where the predicate felonies are alleged in the alternative. The logic of Schluter v. State, 153 Neb. 317, 44 N.W.2d 588 (1950); State v. West, 217 Neb. 389, 350 N.W.2d 512 (1984); and Brunzo, supra, applies to the instant case. In this regard, we conclude that the change in the language of the statutory definition of manslaughter from some unlawful act to an unlawful act did not vitiate the holding in Schluter. We further observe that manslaughter under § 28-305, similar to the crime of motor vehicle homicide in West, is a single crime which may be committed in a number of ways. Finally, as in Brunzo, the information in the present case which pled the predicate acts in the alternative gave Brouillette fair notice of the charges he would face and the crime[s] he was later convicted of, see 262 Neb. at 606, 634 N.W.2d at 774, and was not defective. The district court therefore did not err in overruling Brouillette's motion to quash the information, and we reject Brouillette's first assignment of error.