## Facts

- David J. McEnery was struck by a white station wagon while crossing Broad Street at Summer Street in Providence on April 1, 1970, around 6:30 p.m.
- A bus driver saw the pedestrian thrown onto the hood; the station wagon stopped briefly, then drove away southbound.
- About ten minutes later, police found a white station wagon about 610 feet away; McEnery’s body was wedged beneath it. The vehicle was registered to Henry Rose.
- Medical testimony could not determine whether McEnery died immediately on impact or minutes later while being dragged.
- The trial judge instructed that there was no evidence Rose was culpably negligent in striking McEnery; any manslaughter conviction had to rest on Rose’s conduct in leaving the scene, if McEnery was still alive at that time.
- Rose was tried in Superior Court on indictments for (1) leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting, and (2) manslaughter; the jury convicted on both, and post-trial motions were denied.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that McEnery was alive when Rose drove away and that Rose’s post-impact conduct caused McEnery’s death, supporting manslaughter.
2. Whether the evidence sufficiently proved that Rose, knowing he had been involved in an accident, failed to stop and remain as required for leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting.

## Decision

- The manslaughter conviction was reversed because the evidence did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rose’s culpably negligent flight, rather than the initial impact (treated as non-culpable), caused death.
- The conviction for leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting, was affirmed because the evidence supported that Rose knew he was involved in an accident and failed to perform statutory duties to stop and remain.
- The court held it was error to deny a directed verdict of acquittal on the manslaughter count.

## Legal Principles

- In a criminal case, proof must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; where evidence is equally consistent with innocence, the prosecution has not met its burden.
- When a death may have been caused either by a non-culpable act or by later culpably negligent conduct, and the proof does not permit a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the culpable conduct caused death, homicide liability cannot stand.
- A “leaving the scene, death resulting” offense focuses on the driver’s knowing failure to stop and remain and comply with statutory duties after being involved in an accident that results in death; uncertainty about the precise moment of death does not defeat the statutory violation if death resulted from the accident and the driver knowingly left.

## Conclusion

The court reversed Rose’s manslaughter conviction because causation of death by culpably negligent post-impact conduct was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but it affirmed the conviction for leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting, based on evidence Rose knew of the accident and intentionally failed to stop and remain as required by law.


State v. Rose, 112 R.I. 402, 311 A.2d 281 (R.I. 1973)