State v. Vallo

OPINION

WOOD, Judge.

The indictment accused defendant of the unlawful killing of Ronnie Baca. There is proof that defendant unlawfully killed a boy. There is no proof that this boy was Ronnie Baca. In the absence of such proof, is defendant’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter to be sustained?

The State contends that proof of the identity of the victim is surplusage. See § 41-6-36, N.M.S.A.1953 (Repl.Vol. 6). Its position is that it need only prove the corpus delicti, and that the corpus delicti does not include the identity of the victim. We disagree.

State v. Chaves, 27 N.M. 504, 202 P. 694…