164098

Summary

The Court held that convicting and sentencing defendant for both involuntary manslaughter based on gross negligence and reckless driving causing death violated the multiple-punishments strand of double jeopardy. Because the statutes did not clearly express legislative intent regarding cumulative punishment, the Court applied the abstract-legal-elements test and concluded that the offenses shared the same mens rea, while only reckless driving required operation of a vehicle. Although the issue was unpreserved, defendant established plain error affecting substantial rights, warranting reversal and remand for an appropriate remedy.