Court Opinion

ID: 9757035
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:15:24.916282+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:34.252187
License: Public Domain

*339PRICE, Judge,
dissenting:
Once again I find it necessary to disagree with the majority’s concept of involuntary manslaughter. Commonwealth v. Greer, 232 Pa.Super. 448, 335 A.2d 770 (1975); Commonwealth v. Sisca, 245 Pa.Super. 125, 369 A.2d 325 (1976).
The standard to be applied in ruling upon a demurrer is whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant the jury in finding the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Henderson, 451 Pa. 452, 304 A.2d 154 (1973); Commonwealth v. Gladden, 226 Pa.Super. 13, 311 A.2d 711 (1973); Commonwealth v. Rodgers, 235 Pa.Super. 106, 340 A.2d 550 (1975). Inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence of record which would support a guilt verdict are to be given effect. Commonwealth v. Collins, 436 Pa. 114, 259 A.2d 160 (1969); Commonwealth v. Dennis, 211 Pa.Super. 37, 234 A.2d 53 (1967). The evidence must be read in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth’s case. Commonwealth v. Zeringo, 214 Pa.Super. 300, 257 A.2d 692 (1969); see Commonwealth v. Bey, 221 Pa.Super. 405, 292 A.2d 519 (1972).
I believe the evidence, so viewed, could produce a stronger case for the Commonwealth than that stated by the majority, but even as stated by the majority I believe it clearly would support a guilty verdict by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is certainly the present law in Pennsylvania that not every violation of law or unlawful act in the operation of a motor vehicle will render the operator criminally responsible for deaths which may result. Such an operator, to be criminally responsible, must evidence a disregard of human life or an indifference to the consequences of his act. This is based on the sound reason that there must be found from the evidence some degree of culpable behavior or reckless disregard for the safety of others before a conviction may be sustained.
Where, as here, the present record supports, at a minimum, evidence of a speed exceeding the posted limits, gross *340inattention to the road and traffic and a blatant concealment of a regrettable, but nonetheless extremely relevant, handicap, the loss of one arm. It defies reason to affirm the granting of this demurrer.
The husband and wife who were killed were completely innocent and unsuspecting members of the public who had every right and expectation to believe that the law of this Commonwealth protected them and other members of the public against death and serious bodily injury while traveling upon our highways. It will come as a shock to the public when, on some future day, it realizes that our courts are not so diligent in extending this protection. And a civil remedy to the next-of-kin will not abate this shock.
The additional shocker in this realization will be that, under the majority view, a driver such as appellee is not even subject to judgment by a fact finder as to his conduct and can be, and under the majority view is, discharged as a matter of law.
To my view there is no question that the evidence here presented by the Commonwealth would support a verdict of guilty to the crime of involuntary manslaughter since it would display a departure from prudent conduct constituting a reckless disregard of human life or indifference to consequences. The view of the majority will, I fear, result in a great injustice principally to those trusting members of the public who, like the decedents in this tragic occurrence, rely upon the enforcement of the law for partial protection upon our highways. The view of the majority will, I fear, further encourage reckless disregard of human life and indifference to consequences in the operation of motor vehicles. The great American romance with the automobile must not be permitted to overcome a common sense realization of the obligations that must be assumed in the operation of a motor vehicle. With the deplorable carnage witnessed daily on our highways we can ill afford to encourage such conduct.
I would reverse the granting of the demurrer and remand the case to trial.