CORPUS DELICTI

Latin for body of crime; as opposed to In Flagrante Delicto, this means the Western concept that it must be first proven that a particular crime took place before a person can be convicted of committing that particular crime. For example, it must be proven that some property was actually stolen before a person may be convicted for the cat of robbery. The body of the offence; the essence of the crime 2. It is a general rule not to convict unless the corpus delicti can be established, that is, until the dead body has been found. Instances have occurred of a person being convicted of having killed another, who, after the supposed criminal has been put to death for the supposed offence, has made his appearance alive. The wisdom of the rule is apparent; but it has been questioned whether, in extreme cases, it may not be competent to prove the basis of the corpus delicti by presumptive evidence.