Corpus Delecti: Difference between revisions
Created page with "==Background== ''Corpus Delecti'' (literally, "The Body of the Crime") is the requirement that the prosecution present actual evidence that a crime was committed in order to conv..." |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
''Corpus Delecti'' (literally, "The Body of the Crime") is the requirement that the prosecution present actual evidence that a crime was committed in order to convict a defendant. | ''Corpus Delecti'' (literally, "The Body of the Crime") is the requirement that the prosecution present actual evidence that a crime was committed in order to convict a defendant. In popular culture this has often been stated that an individual cannot be convicted of homicide without the production of the dead body. However, an individual may be convicted of homicide even if the body cannot be found, as long as there is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual committed the crime. Rather than the literal body of the crime, ''corpus delect''i refers to the body of evidence that a crime was committed. Thus, Black's Law Dictionary defines ''corpus delecti'' as " "the fact of a crime having been actually committed." | ||
''Corpus delecti'' has often been interpreted as requiring additional evidence beyond a confession before an individual can be convicted of a crime. In other jurisdictions corroborating evidence must be introduced before a confession may be admitted at trial. Additional evidence may also be required before an accomplice's confession may be admitted against the defendant. | |||
The U.S. Supreme Court refered to the principal of ''corpus delecti'' in Wong Sun v. United States <ref>Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 497 n.14, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)</ref>, 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].") | |||
---- | ---- | ||
See [[Evidence]] | See [[Evidence]] | ||
==Notes== | |||
<references/> | |||
Revision as of 22:07, 5 December 2010
Background
Corpus Delecti (literally, "The Body of the Crime") is the requirement that the prosecution present actual evidence that a crime was committed in order to convict a defendant. In popular culture this has often been stated that an individual cannot be convicted of homicide without the production of the dead body. However, an individual may be convicted of homicide even if the body cannot be found, as long as there is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual committed the crime. Rather than the literal body of the crime, corpus delecti refers to the body of evidence that a crime was committed. Thus, Black's Law Dictionary defines corpus delecti as " "the fact of a crime having been actually committed."
Corpus delecti has often been interpreted as requiring additional evidence beyond a confession before an individual can be convicted of a crime. In other jurisdictions corroborating evidence must be introduced before a confession may be admitted at trial. Additional evidence may also be required before an accomplice's confession may be admitted against the defendant.
The U.S. Supreme Court refered to the principal of corpus delecti in Wong Sun v. United States [1], 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].")
See Evidence
Notes
- ↑ Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 497 n.14, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)
