Com. v. Busler

• Decision Date: 20 December 1971
• Citation: 284 A.2d 783,445 Pa. 359
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. George T. BUSLER, Jr., Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 783

284 A.2d 783

445 Pa. 359

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. George T. BUSLER, Jr., Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 20, 1971.

James Victor Voss, Neely & Voss, Pittsburgh, for appellant

D. Dale Claypool, Dist. Atty., Kittanning, for appellee.

Before JONES, EAGEN, O'BRIEN, POMEROY and BARBIERI, JJ.

OPINION

EAGEN, Justice.

George T. Busler, Jr., was the operator of a motor vehicle involved in a fatal accident in Armstrong County, and was subsequently arrested and indicted for involuntary manslaughter. A nonjury trial resulted in a verdict of guilty, and after post trial motions were denied a prison sentence was imposed. On appeal, the Superior Court affirmed the judgment without opinion, 218 Pa.Super. 877, 279 A.2d 262 (1971). We granted allocatur, and now reverse because we are persuaded the trial evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to establish guilt of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

In Commonwealth v. Mayberry, 290 Pa. 195, 198, 138 A. 686, 687 (1927), involuntary manslaughter was said to consist in 'the killing of another without malice and unintentionally, but in doing some unlawful act not amounting to a felony nor naturally tending to cause death or great bodily harm, or in negligently doing some act lawful in itself, or by the negligent omission to perform a legal duty.' See also Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, 18 P.S. § 4703.

And, as stated in Commonwealth v. Holman, 160 Pa.Super. 211, 212, 50 A.2d 720, 721 (1947): 'Where the act in itself is not unlawful, that is, contrary to law, then to make it criminal, negligence must be such a departure from what would be the conduct of an ordinary prudent man under the same circumstances as to evidence a disregard of human life or an indifference to consequences.'

Conduct made unlawful by the Motor Vehicle Code is not necessarily the kind of 'unlawful act' included within the definition of involuntary manslaughter, for in many instances the code makes unlawful, acts of ordinary negligence. Hence, to sustain a conviction of involuntary manslaughter for a death resulting from an act which constitutes a transgression of the Motor Vehicle Code, it must be established that such violation in itself, or together with the surrounding circumstances, 'evidence a disregard of human life or an indifference to consequences.' See Commonwealth v. Clowser, 212 Pa.Super. 208, 239 A.2d 870 (1968); and, Commonwealth v. Holman, supra.

The evidence in this case, viewed in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth, fails to establish beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the necessary 'disregard of human life or an indifference to consequences.' And, of course, before one may be convicted of a crime, the Commonwealth is charged with the responsibility of proving every essential element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Radford, 428 Pa. 279, 236 A.2d 802 (1968).

The record discloses the following pertinent facts:

On September 29, 1968, at approximately 6:50 p.m., Busler was operating a motor vehicle south on Route 66. Road conditions were clear and dry. Route 66 is a two-lane highway running north and south. The highway, north of Goheenville, Armstrong County, traverses a hill. From the crest of the hill Route 66 south proceeds down a grade to a dip which is approximately 500 feet from the crest. Route 66 south then curves slightly and proceeds up an incline. Busler's motor vehicle collided with a northbound vehicle operated by Doris Jean Pierson, ¹ the impact occurring at a point 50--75 feet south of the dip and in the northbound lane of traffic. An officer, Arrow, who investigated the scene observed a line of skid marks measuring 203 feet from the point of impact, northward. Between the north and southbound lanes, from the crest to a point about 100 feet north of the dip is a...