Commonwealth v. Frisbie

According to the majority’s logic, a drunk driver who crashes into a school bus and kills several children can be sentenced for only one count of involuntary manslaughter,1 the sentence not to exceed five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine2. Does this punishment fit the crime? Routinely and perfunctorily reiterating an ancient legal cliche, the majority maintains that the defendant cannot be sentenced on the remaining counts because all of the deaths are the result of a “single unlawful act.”

Although the facts of the instant case are, fortunately, not as severe as the above hypothetical,…