Criminal
Corpus Delecti Rule Discussed
The corpus delecti rule is a rule of evidence that bars defendant’s confession absent some corroborating evidence of the offense charged. The corroborating evidence can be circumstantial and slight. But the State offered no corroborating evidence, only evidence that defendant was alone with victim for a few seconds at an unspecified time in a seven-month period, and offered nothing to show that such time was the time of the offense. The confession of defendant was therefore inadmissible. Sentence vacated, other points are moot, and the action is remanded to circuit court.
STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent vs. DAVID TROYER, JR., Appellant
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District – SD37379
DWI
Chronic Offender Status Unsupported
Statute enhances the degree of the offense of driving while intoxicated if the State shows a sufficient number of prior convictions, within a specified time, in which “the conduct involved constituted ‘driving while intoxicated’ … as defined at the time of the current offense … , not the time of the conduct underlying the prior conviction.” Driving means “physically driving or operating [,]” and not “merely being in ‘actual physical control’ of, a vehicle. Evidence admissible to support that finding includes “police reports and a copy of the underlying traffic citation [.]” “[T]he bare designation of the charged offense” in an official record does not prove driving. When an offense’s elements include alternatives to “actual driving [,]” a conviction of that offense does not show “actual driving,” so that conviction does not count toward chronic offender status. An enhanced sentence is subject to appeal for sufficiency of the evidence, which need not be included in a motion for new trial, as in any bench ruling. Remanded for re-sentencing.
State of Missouri vs. David Scott Nowicki
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District – WD84851