People v. Simonsen

Citations

• 107 Cal. 345
• 40 P. 440
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 757

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Obtaining Property Under False Pretenses — Mis. REPRESENTATION AS TO OWNERSHIP OR LAND—EVIDENCE—ADMISSIONS of Defendant—Corpus Delicti.—Upon, a charge of obtaining property under false pretenses, through misrepresentations made by the defendant as to his ownership of land, evidence of the extrajudicial statements and admissions of the defendant are insufficient to prove the fact that he owned no land as represented, that fact being an essential element and part of the cdrpus delicti, which must be established before the admissions of the defendant are admissible in evidence.</p> <p>Id.—Meaning of Corpus Delicti.—The term corpus delicti involves the elements of crime; and, in order to prove it, all of the elements of crime must be made to appear before defendant’s confessions are admissible for any purpose; and they cannot be used to establish any necessary element of the commission of a crime.</p>