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Incriminating Statements| What you should know about Corpus Delecti by Moseley Matheson
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Incriminating Statements| What you should know about Corpus Delecti |
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Law
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When being charged with North Carolina Misdemeanor, North Carolina Felony or even a North Carolina Driving While Intoxicated, most people are unaware of how to handle being questioned by a police officer. A lot of the time people end up making some sort of incriminating statement without ever being asked a question from the arresting officer. These statements are admissible in court; however, your attorney should explore a concept known as Corpus Delecti. Corpus Delecti is Latin for “Body of Crime.” Now the term means something along the lines of ‘proving the elements of the crime’. When the State charges the Defendant with a crime, it becomes the State’s responsibility to prove every aspect of that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. One example would be receiving a charge for Driving While Intoxicated in North Carolina, the State must then prove that the Defendant was driving a motor vehicle, on a road/highway/public vehicular area in that courts jurisdiction, and that the defendant was appreciably impaired or had a blood/alcohol level of .08 or higher. In order to achieve a conviction of Driving While Intoxicated the State must prove all of these elements. There are cases where the State may have difficulty with proving elements of the alleged crime and will then resort to using the incriminating statements as evidence of the crime. Keeping with the same example of Driving While Intoxicated, the State may not be able to place the Defendant driving the motor vehicle because of an accident, there were no witnesses, and the arresting Officer found the Defendant standing outside the vehicle upon arrival to the scene. If in this situation the Defendant admits to driving the vehicle then the State will try and use that statement as evidence of operating the motor vehicle. A North Carolina Supreme Court case has outlined what is necessary for a Defendant’s incriminating statements to be allowed as evidence of any elements of an alleged crime. There were some cases that preceded State v. Trexler but this case is now the most cited case when arguing against convicting a Defendant based on incriminating statements. Before this case, the Courts made it a requirement that the State provide corroborative evidence of the element of the crime. After the Trexler case, the Courts decided that independent evidence that corroborates the Defendant’s statements as being true can then qualify as enough evidence to prove that element of the case. What all this means is that if there is evidence found that supports the incriminating statements made by the Defendant then it meets the State’s burden of proving that element of the case. This has ended up lowering the burden on the State. Before they had to find corroborative evidence of the element and now they just have to find corroborative evidence that proves the Defendant’s statement as truthful. For legal advice regarding your particular crime matter, speak with a local Criminal Attorney. Disclaimer - Information and advice offered in this article is for informational and educational purposes only and is specific to North Carolina law. The viewing, receipt and/or exchange of information from this article does not constitute an Attorney-Client Relationship. For assistance regarding your particular legal question speak with an Attorney practicing in the field from which your questions derives.
Related Articles -
Incriminating Statements, Criminal Charges, North Carolina Misdemeanor, North Carolina Felony, North Carolina Driving While Intoxicated,
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