Corpus Delicti
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Description
Corpus delicti literally means the body or substance of the crime. In law the term refers to proof establishing that a crime has occurred, that is, proof establishing each of the necessary elements of the offense in question. Although misunderstanding about corpus delicti has been common among lawyers and laymen alike, it can be seen that the term does not refer to a dead body. There is a corpus delicti of robbery, arson, perjury, tax evasion, and, indeed, of every criminal offense. Moreover, even in a homicide case, a “dead body” is neither necessary nor sufficient to establish the corpus delicti. Testimony that a ship's passenger deliberately pushed the deceased overboard on the high seas can establish the corpus delicti of murder even if the body is never recovered. Conversely, the body of a child killed in a fire would not establish the corpus delicti of murder in the absence of proof that the fire was caused by some criminal act. When a failure to prove some fact essential to the charge (such as a failure to prove intercourse in a rape case) implies that the offense was not committed by anyone, the courts sometimes say that reversal of the conviction is required by the absence of a corpus delicti (Azbill v. State, 84 Nev. 345, 440 P.2d 1014 (1968)). It would be equally accurate, and perhaps less mysterious, to say simply that the reversal results from the prosecutor's failure to prove an essential element of the case.
Source Publication
Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice
Source Editors/Authors
Sanford H. Kadish
Publication Date
1983
Edition
1
Volume Number
1
Recommended Citation
Schulhofer, Stephen J., "Corpus Delicti" (1983). Faculty Chapters. 1403.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1403
