Commonwealth v. Thornton

CERCONE, Judge:

This appeal arises from appellant’s conviction by a jury of involuntary manslaughter. 1 The question raised in this case is whether appellant’s guilty plea to a summary offense under the Vehicle Code 2 barred his subsequent prosecution for involuntary manslaughter. The unusual facts of this case are as follows.

On May 21, 1975, Mrs. Marie Marcin was killed when appellant’s car, driven by appellant’s fifteen and one-half year-old sister flew off the road and landed on the porch of the Marcin home, pinning Mrs. Marcin beneath it. Officer Russell Clifford of the Wall Borough Police…