People v. Watson

Convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, defendant Prank G. Watson appeals from the judgment. He did not testify or call any witnesses in defense. The main argument of his present counsel is that the corpus delicti was not proved without the aid of defendant’s own admissions and hence the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict.

The prosecutor and the court carefully adhered to the rule that prima facie proof of the corpus delicti should be made before receiving evidence of any confession or admission of the defendant. In examining sufficiency of the…