Tag Archives: CC 359


Corpus Delicti: Jurors Must Find Independent Evidence As to All Elements of the Charged Offense
February 10th, 2022

The corpus delicti rule requires “an instruction to the jury that no person may be convicted absent evidence of the crime independent of his or her out-of-court statements” and “allows the defendant, on appeal, directly to attack the sufficiency of the prosecution’s independent showing.”  (People v. Gonzalez ____C5th____, at ____ (Dec. 2, 2021, S163643) [pp. […]


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Whether Defendant May Be Convicted Based Only on an Admission/Confession
June 15th, 2015

  CC 359 is deficient to the extent it lends itself to an interpretation that criminal defendants could be convicted on the basis of extrajudicial statements alone that they committed a crime. (People v. Rivas (2013) 214 Cal. App. 4th 1410.) The first paragraph of CC 359 correctly informed the jury that, “A defendant may […]


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