Commonwealth v. Feinberg
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
234 A.2d 913 (1967)
Relevant factsFree
Feinberg (defendant) switched from selling home-use Sterno to cheaper institutional-use Sterno — which contained a much stronger, poisonous methyl-alcohol solution and was clearly marked with skull-and-crossbones warnings — without alerting his mostly poor customers, whom he knew tended to drink Sterno in intoxicating beverages; five customers died of methyl-alcohol poisoning after he sold 400 cans over a few weeks, and he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
IssueFree
Whether a person can commit involuntary manslaughter either by performing an unlawful act or by performing a lawful act unlawfully.