## Facts

- Daniel Biechele was a tour manager for the band Great White.
- On February 20, 2003, during a performance at a Rhode Island nightclub, Biechele ignited pyrotechnic effects inside the venue as part of the show.
- The pyrotechnics ignited a fire that killed 100 people who were attending the concert.
- Rhode Island law made it a misdemeanor to possess, control, or use pyrotechnics without a license.
- The State charged Biechele with involuntary manslaughter under an “unlawful-act” (misdemeanor manslaughter) theory, alleging that he committed the licensing misdemeanor and that the unlawful act proximately caused the 100 deaths.
- Biechele moved to dismiss the misdemeanor-manslaughter charges, arguing that (i) the predicate misdemeanor must be malum in se, not malum prohibitum, and (ii) using a licensing misdemeanor as the predicate violated due process because the misdemeanor did not require a culpable mental state.
- Biechele also sought dismissal based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct during the grand jury proceedings.

## Issues

1. Does Rhode Island recognize misdemeanor (unlawful-act) involuntary manslaughter when the predicate misdemeanor is malum prohibitum, such as a licensing violation for pyrotechnics?
2. Does charging involuntary manslaughter based on a strict-liability (or minimal-mens-rea) licensing misdemeanor violate due process fair-notice requirements?
3. Do allegations of prosecutorial misconduct before the grand jury require dismissal of the indictment?

## Decision

- The court denied Biechele’s motion to dismiss the misdemeanor-manslaughter counts.
- The court held that Rhode Island law permits an unlawful-act involuntary manslaughter theory and does not limit the predicate misdemeanor to malum in se offenses.
- The court rejected the due process challenge, concluding that the statutes and the unlawful-act manslaughter doctrine gave adequate notice that committing the pyrotechnics-licensing misdemeanor and causing death could result in manslaughter liability, and that the State still had to prove causation.
- The court declined to dismiss the indictment for alleged grand jury misconduct because Biechele did not show misconduct serious enough to invalidate the indictment or render the grand jury proceedings fundamentally unfair.

## Legal Principles

- Rhode Island recognizes involuntary manslaughter based on (1) criminal negligence and (2) commission of an unlawful act; these are alternative theories of the same offense under the manslaughter statute.
- A malum prohibitum misdemeanor may serve as the “unlawful act” for misdemeanor manslaughter when the unlawful conduct is tied to public safety and the State alleges that the violation proximately caused the death.
- Due process fair notice is satisfied when the governing statutes clearly prohibit the conduct and existing manslaughter doctrine provides notice that a death proximately caused during the unlawful act can lead to manslaughter liability.
- Dismissal for alleged grand jury misconduct is an exceptional remedy; a facially valid indictment returned by a legally constituted, unbiased grand jury is not set aside absent a showing of serious misconduct affecting fundamental fairness.

## Conclusion

The Rhode Island Superior Court allowed the State to proceed on involuntary manslaughter charges under a misdemeanor-manslaughter theory based on the alleged unlicensed use of pyrotechnics, holding that a regulatory licensing misdemeanor can serve as the predicate unlawful act, that the charging theory provided constitutionally sufficient notice (with proximate causation still required), and that the asserted grand jury misconduct did not justify dismissal.


State v. Biechele, 2005 WL 3338331 (2005)