People v. Allen

I am unable to agree that the corpus delicti of first-degree murder can be established without evidence independent of the accused person’s confession of the essential element that distinguishes the offense of second-degree murder from first-degree murder. I would, for reasons set out below, modify the judgment of conviction in this case to reduce the offense of which the defendant Allen stands convicted to murder of the second degree and remand for resentencing.

The corpus delicti may, of course, be established by circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences.1 In this case, however,…