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Corpus delicti

Conviction requires proof of a crime

Conviction requires proof of a crime

Note

a legal term

In Western law, corpus delicti (Latin for 'body of the crime'; ), is the principle that a crime must be proven to have occurred before a person could be convicted of having committed that crime.

For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can be proven that property has been stolen. Likewise in order for a person to be tried for arson, it must be proven that a criminal act resulted in the burning of a property. Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines "corpus delicti as: "the fact of a crime having been actually committed".

In common law systems, the concept has its outgrowth in several principles. Many jurisdictions hold as a legal rule that a defendant's out-of-court confession alone, is insufficient evidence to prove the defendant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt. A corollary to this rule is that an accused cannot be convicted solely upon the testimony of an accomplice. Some jurisdictions also hold that without first showing independent corroboration that a crime has occurred, the prosecution may not introduce evidence of the defendant's statement.

Requirements

In general, all corpus delicti requires at a minimum:

  1. The occurrence of the specific injury; and
  2. some criminal act as the source of the injury.

For example:

  • Homicide: 1) An individual has died 2) as a result of action (or inaction) by another person.
  • Larceny: 1) Property is missing 2) because it was stolen.

In essence corpus delicti of crimes refers to evidence that a violation of law occurred; no literal 'body' is needed.

Murder cases

When a person disappears and cannot be contacted, many police agencies initiate a missing person case. If, during the course of the investigation, detectives believe that they have been murdered, then a "body" of evidentiary items, including physical, demonstrative and testimonial evidence, must be obtained to establish that the missing person has indeed died, and that their death was by homicide, before a suspect can be charged with murder. The clearest evidence in these cases is the physical body of the deceased. However, in the event that a body is not present or has not yet been discovered, it is possible to prove a crime took place if sufficient circumstantial evidence is presented to prove the matter beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, the presence at a missing person's home of spilled human blood, identifiable as that person's, in sufficient quantity to indicate exsanguination, demonstrates—even in the absence of a corpse—that the possibility that no crime has occurred, and the missing person is merely missing, is not reasonably credible.

References

References

  1. See, e.g., ''Wong Sun v. United States'', 371 U.S. 471, 497 n.14, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 [[L.Ed.2d]] 441 (1963 (citing to corpus delicti rule and stating: "For the history and development of the corroboration requirement, see 7 Wigmore, Evidence [3d ed. 1940], §§ 2070–2071; Note, Proof of the Corpus Delicti Aliunde the Defendant's Confession, 103 U. of Pa. L. Rev. 638–649 [1955]. For the present scope and application of the rule, see 2 Underhill, Criminal Evidence [5th ed. 1956], §§ 402–403. For a comprehensive collection of cases, see Annot., 45 A. L. R.2d 1316 [1956].")
  2. B. Berg, ''Criminal Investigation'', McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2007
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