Question

What is the prosecution's responsibility relative to the corpus delicti in obtaining a conviction for any crime? Can a corpus delicti be proven by a confession or admission of a defendant? Explain your response.

Answer 1

Answer:

The prosecution's responsibility relative to the corpus delicti in obtaining a conviction for any crime is to provide sufficient evidence that a crime was committed.

According to the EVIDENCE § 640 (11th ed. 1935), corpus delicti cannot be proven by a defendant's confession or admission.  It remains the responsibility of the prosecution to provide enough evidence for the commission of a crime.  It is only a defendant's voluntary confession that can be admitted as evidence.  However, each judge is expected to weigh the confessional evidence.

Explanation:

Corpus delicti refers to a criminal justice principle that requires sufficient facts to be gathered as evidence to prove that a crime had been committed.  This implies that corpus delicti is the body of evidence or facts and not a dead body as wrongfully construed sometimes.