State v. Hummel

¶1 A jury convicted Bruce Hummel of the premeditated murder of his wife, Alice. The main issue in this appeal is whether Hummel’s statements were properly admitted under the corpus delicti rule. That rule requires the State to produce sufficient evidence to establish the corpus delicti of the charged crime before a defendant’s statements may be admitted into evidence. The corpus delicti of a homicide case is proved by evidence, independent of a defendant’s statements, establishing the fact of death and a causal connection between the death and a criminal act. We conclude that there was…