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STATE v. BRADFORD12/10/1993
l an officer approached him about making a statement against Bradford. According to Wright, the officer promised that if Wright gave a statement he would either receive a reduced sentence or the charges against him would be dropped. Wright stated that he had heard rumors that other inmates had been promised concessions in exchange for their testimony.
Defense counsel also moved for a mistrial based on the fact that Angela's family had been wearing buttons in the courtroom containing Angela's photograph. The trial court denied the motion and directed court personnel to advise those persons wearing the buttons to remove them during further court proceedings.
Corpus Delicti — Bradford's Contentions
Bradford asserts that he was convicted by his own extrajudicial confession. He maintains that his confession was not corroborated by any independent evidence that either placed him at the scene of the crime or showed that he attempted a robbery. He reasons that the State failed to prove (1) the corpus delicti of felony murder and (2) his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bradford indicates that we have held that the corpus delicti cannot be established by the unsupported extrajudicial confession of a defendant, citing State v. Yarrington, 238 Kan. 141, 146, 708 P.2d 524 (1985). He recognizes that our opinions have held that the corpus delicti in a homicide case is established by proof of two facts: that a person was killed and that another individual did the killing. Bradford observes, however, that those opinions have addressed the corpus delicti question in the intentional murder context. Bradford contends that when a defendant is charged with felony murder, proving the corpus delicti requires proof of the underlying felony. He discusses Gribble v. State, 808 S.W.2d 65, 71 (Tex.Crim. 1990), cert. denied 111 S.Ct. 2856 (1991),
where the court held that an extrajudicial confession must be corroborated as to the underlying felony. Bradford acknowledges that Angela's death is undisputed. He believes, however, that no tangible evidence supported the finding that an attempted robbery occurred. He emphasizes that large amounts of cash remained in the restaurant, the building was locked, there were no signs of forcible entry, and there was neither evidence of a struggle nor evidence that Angela attacked her assailant, suggesting she knew her assailant.
Bradford argues that the statements concerning his alleged confessions were so untrustworthy that we should carefully scrutinize the independent, corroborative proof. He emphasizes that the State failed to produce or prove: (1) fingerprints; (2) a murder weapon; (3) his presence in the vicinity of the crime; (4) any suspicious behavior which could connect him to the crime; (5) witnesses who could corroborate the description of the crime; and (6) any fruits of the crime.
Bradford contends that aside from the confessions, no evidence corroborated the attempted robbery; consequently, the State failed to prove the corpus delicti of the underlying offense which supported the felony-murder charge. In the alternative, Bradford claims that the confessions produced by the State were so untrustworthy that no rational jury could have convicted him.
According to Bradford, there are two problems with the credibility of Tammy's statement. First, Tammy swore under oath at trial that her original statement to the police was false. Second, Tammy testified that she had been coerced into giving the statement, rendering her statement untrustworthy. Bradford believes the jailhouse informants' statements lacked credibility. He maintains that a jury could not have found him guilty beyond a reasonabl
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