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STATE v. CONNER5/21/1980
This appeal by the State from trial court's dismissal of an indictment against defendant Jim Conner requires our determination of the element of culpability intended by subsection 707.5(1), Supplement to the Code 1977. That section provides: "A person commits a class `D' felony when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of a public offense other than a forcible felony or escape."
The indictment in question accused defendant of violating subsection 707.5(1) by unlawfully and unintentionally causing the death of Frank Matijevich as a result of committing a public offense on February 4, 1978. In response to the indictment, defendant moved for a bill of particulars in part to learn what "public offense" the State would rely upon to prove violation of subsection 707.5(1). In the bill of particulars subsequently filed, the State said it would rely upon defendant's disobedience of a signal light while operating his motor vehicle.
Defendant then filed a motion to dismiss, attacking the constitutionality of subsection 707.5(1) and asserting that the statute should not be construed so as to include within its definition the mere disobedience of a signal light. Trial court sustained the motion upon solely the statutory construction grounds and did not address the constitutional grounds.
I. Statutory Construction.
The State argues, first, that the statutory subsection construed, § 707.5(1), is unambiguous and thus statutory construction was inappropriate. While conceding that under the common law, prior to the enactment of subsection 707.5(1), a defendant could not be convicted of involuntary manslaughter on the basis of a mere traffic violation absent recklessness on his part, it argues that subsection 707.5(1) creates a new crime in which recklessness is not a necessary element. This view, it says, is supported by its contention that subsection 707.5(2), alternatively defining involuntary manslaughter as unintentionally causing death "by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury," represents a codification of the common law definition of involuntary manslaughter, which required recklessness; thus, to impute to subsection 707.5(1) the element of recklessness would make that section mere surplusage. [292 NW2d Page 684]
The State's manner of examining subsection 707.5(1) for indefiniteness or ambiguity is myopic. The polestar of statutory interpretation is legislative intent. E.g., Loras College v. Iowa Civil Rights Commission, 285 N.W.2d 143, 147 (Iowa 1979). To discern that intent, it is necessary to examine the whole act of which the statutory provision in question is a part. E.g., Williams v. Osmundson, 281 N.W.2d 622, 626 (Iowa 1979); In re Estate of Bliven, 236 N.W.2d 366, 369 (Iowa 1975); see 2A C. Sands, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 47.02 (4th ed. 1973). Particularly relevant are substantively related provisions adopted in the same legislative session. See, e.g., State v. Schmitt, 290 N.W.2d 24, 26 (Iowa 1980); Iowa Farm Serum Co. v. Board of Pharmacy Examiners, 240 Iowa 734, 740, 35 N.W.2d 848, 851 (1949). From this examination of related provisions, an overall legislative scheme may become evident. If any single provision, read literally and in isolation, would be repugnant to the overall purpose or scheme, reasonable minds may be uncertain as to its meaning. Statutory construction is then appropriately invoked. See, e.g., Janson v. Fulton, 162 N.W.2d 438, 443 (Iowa 1968); Case v. Olson, 234 Iowa 869, 876-77, 14 N.W.2d 717, 721 (1944).
As defendant correctly observes, subsection 707.5(1) is repugnant to the general scheme of sections 707.1-.5, which show a
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