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BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
evidence of a robbery outside of Mr. Bush's confessions." He argues that, aside from his confessions, the state presented no evidence that he stole "zodiac sign tags" or anything else from Dominguez, Holmes, or the Majik Market on the night of the killing of Dominguez.
When the confessions were offered into evidence, the appellant did not object on the ground that the state had failed to prove the corpus delicti. While the appellant moved for a judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the state's case-in-chief on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for murder committed during the course of a robbery or an attempted robbery, he did not specifically raise the issue whether the state had proven the corpus delicti of the crime charged. The corpus delicti issue is specifically raised for the first time on appeal. However, the motion for a judgment of acquittal on sufficiency of the evidence grounds preserved the issue for review because a confession or admission alone cannot support a conviction. Watters v. State, 369 So.2d 1262 (Ala. Cr. App. 1978), rev'd on other grounds, 369 So.2d 1272 (Ala. 1979).
"It is a settled principle of law that a mere extrajudicial confession, uncorroborated by other facts, is insufficient to show the corpus delicti and cannot support a conviction." Id., at 1271. "In a charge of crime, whether felony or misdemeanor, the state is not entitled to go to the jury on proof of the accused's extrajudicial confession without evidence, independent of the confession, warranting a reasonable inference of the existence of the corpus delicti of the charged crime." C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 304.01 (4th ed. 1991) (footnotes omitted). The corpus delicti may not be established by a confession or an admission standing alone. A confession or an admission alone cannot support a conviction, but must be corroborated by independent evidence of the corpus delicti. C. Torcia, Wharton's Criminal Law § 28 (14th ed. 1978); 7 Wigmore, Evidence §§ 2071-74 (Chadbourn rev. 1978). The wisdom of this rule lies in the fact that no man should be convicted of a crime, the commission of which he confesses, unless the state shows, by testimony other than the accused's confession, that the confessed crime was in fact committed. East v. State, 146 Tex.Crim. 396, 175 S.W.2d 603 (1942). "The corpus delicti consists of two elements: (1) That a certain result has been produced . . . and (2) that some person is criminally responsible for the act." Gamble, supra, at § 304.01 (quoting State v. Thomas, 78 Ariz. 52, 59, 275 P.2d 408, 413 (1954)).
"It is clear from the foregoing definition that the term corpus delicti does not mean or include the guilty agency of the accused in the commission of the alleged crime for which he is being tried.
"Independent evidence of the corpus delicti need not be of such probative strength as that such evidence, standing alone, in the opinion of the trial or appellate court, would, ought to or probably would satisfy a jury beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of the corpus delicti. Independent evidence of the corpus delicti may consist solely of circumstantial evidence. Whether the independent evidence tending to prove the corpus delicti is sufficient to warrant a reasonable inference of the existence thereof depends, of course, upon the particular facts of each case. It is for the judge, not the jury, to determine whether there is evidence independent of accused's confession, warranting a reasonable inference of the existence of the corpus delicti."
McElroy's, supra, § 304.01 (footnotes omitted).
" nconclusive facts and circumstances tending prima facie to show the corpus delict
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