Commonwealth v. Henderson (No. 1), 47 N.E.3d 25

On March 14, 2013, defendant Keith Henderson was driving a car reported stolen; police spotted the car, followed, and a high-speed pursuit ensued.
The defendant ran a red light, sideswiped a stopped vehicle, then almost immediately collided with two oncoming vehicles; two occupants were injured and three cars damaged.
After the multi-vehicle crash, the defendant exited, stumbled, attempted to run about twenty feet, and was apprehended by police.
A jury convicted Henderson of two counts of leaving the scene causing personal injury (G. L. c. 90, § 24(2)(a1/2)(1)) and three counts of leaving the scene causing property damage (G. L. c. 90, § 24(2)(a)), among other charges.
On appeal Henderson argued (1) the judge should have instructed that the Commonwealth must prove a specific intent to leave the scene, and (2) multiple convictions violated double jeopardy as duplicative.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jury instruction: whether specific intent to leave is an element	Commonwealth: statute requires proof of knowledge of collision/injury, not specific intent to leave	Henderson: judge should have instructed that defendant must have subjective intent to leave the scene	Held: No specific intent required; knowledge of the collision/injury is the operative element; jury instruction was correct (Platt standard)
Duplicative convictions / double jeopardy: whether separate convictions allowed for multiple victims/property items in a single incident	Commonwealth: convictions may be multiple if defendant left the scene more than once (argues two distinct departures)	Henderson: single act of leaving the scene; multiple convictions duplicate punishment for same act	Held: Multiple convictions vacated where the evidence showed a single, near‑instantaneous crash and a single flight; only one conviction for personal injury and one for property damage sustained

Commonwealth v. Liebenow, 470 Mass. 151 (discussion of flight and related jury questions)
Commonwealth v. Platt, 440 Mass. 396 (elements of leaving the scene include knowledge of collision/injury)
Commonwealth v. Sama, 411 Mass. 293 (distinguishing knowledge from intent)
Commonwealth v. Constantino, 443 Mass. 521 (unit of prosecution is the act of leaving the scene; one penalty per unlawful course of conduct)
Commonwealth v. Vick, 454 Mass. 418 (multiple convictions permissible only for separate, distinct acts of leaving)
Commonwealth v. Horsfall, 213 Mass. 232 (historical treatment of "knowingly" in the statute)