(DOWNLOAD) "State Utah v. Leslie G. Knoefler" by Supreme Court Of Utah " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Utah v. Leslie G. Knoefler
- Author : Supreme Court Of Utah
- Release Date : January 01, 1977
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 54 KB
Description
WILKINS, Justice: Defendant appeals from a conviction of driving under the influence of intoxicants and inflicting bodily injury on another in violation of Utah Code Ann., Sec. 41-6-44(b) and (d), (1953). The facts reveal that defendant and two other individuals, Stevens and Lund, where injured when an automobile in which they were riding overturned near Circleville, Utah, at approximately 6:15 a.m. on January 28, 1976. The defendant and Lund escaped with minor bruises and abrasions while Stevens were seriously injured. The transcript disclosed that there existed an abundance of beer in the vicinity of the wreckage. Both defendant and Lund were staggering, slurring their speech, and both smelled of alcohol. Witnesses to the accident also detected the odor of alcohol on Stevens' breath, although the serious nature of his injuries made it impossible for him to move. While at the scene of the accident, defendant admitted to an investigating police officer that he had been the driver of the automobile at the time of the accident. He was then placed under arrest and taken to Circleville where a breathalyzer test was administered, the results of which indicated his blood alcohol content to be .21 percent by weight. The defendant contends that the State at the trial below failed to establish the corpus delicti (i.e., that a crime had been committed) independently of his admission that he was the driver of the automobile, and he therefore seeks reversal of his conviction. An admission or a confession, without some independent corroborative evidence of the corpus delicti, cannot alone support a guilty verdict. 1 To sustain a conviction, the requirement of independent proof of the corpus delicti requires only that the State present evidence that the injury specified in the crime occurred, and that such injury was caused by someone's criminal conduct. 2 An admission or confession is admissible to connect an accused with the crime committed; but the connection of the accused with the crime need not be proven to establish the corpus delicti. 3