S-0060.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 5093

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State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By Senators Costa and McCaslin

Read first time 01/12/1999.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

Allowing confessions and other admissions to be admitted into evidence if substantial independent evidence establishes the trustworthiness of the statement.

    AN ACT Relating to the admissibility of confessions and admissions in criminal and juvenile offense proceedings; adding a new section to chapter 10.58 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  (1) The legislature finds as follows:

    (a) The "corpus delicti" doctrine originated at a time when there were few legal protections against coerced confessions.  The modern existence of such protections has eliminated the need for the doctrine.  The doctrine has been widely criticized by legal scholars and repudiated by the United States supreme court.

    (b) The jury system itself provides strong protection against convictions based on unreliable confessions.  Juries are fully capable of evaluating the circumstances surrounding an alleged confession and disregarding the confession if it is unreliable.

    (c) The "corpus delicti" doctrine can produce severe injustice, by making it impossible to convict persons whose guilt is clearly proven.  This is particularly true in cases involving crimes interrupted before the goal is accomplished, for example attempted murder, and cases involving victims who cannot describe the acts that have been perpetrated against them, for example severely disabled victims.

    (2) Section 2 of this act is intended to adopt the federal corroboration requirement as set out in Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84, 99 L. Ed. 101, 75 S. Ct. 158 (1954).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 10.58 RCW to read as follows:

    In all criminal and juvenile offense proceedings where independent proof of the corpus delicti is absent, a lawfully obtained confession or admission of the defendant nevertheless shall be admitted into evidence if there is substantial independent evidence that would tend to establish the trustworthiness of the confession or admission.

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