RAYYIS v. Superior Court

Opinion

COOPER, P. J.

Like most American jurisdictions, California adheres to the “corpus delicti” rule, under which the corpus delicti—essentially, the fact that a crime has been committed—cannot be proved based solely on extrajudicial statements of the defendant. (People v. Alvarez (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1161, 1169, 1173 [119 Cal.Rptr.2d 903, 46 P.3d 372] (Alvarez).) Over the years, courts have consistently applied this rule not only to the actual trial of a defendant, but also to the preliminary hearing where it must be determined if sufficient evidence has been presented to hold the defendant to…