Corpus

A body; also, the principal thing, the essential part, the substance. In several phrases it means the body or person of an individual, as see under Capere; Haberk. 1 [Gulliver v. Eoelle, 100 111. 147 (1881). 2 Memphis City o. Dean, 8 "Wall. 73 (18G8), cases; Davenport v. Downs, 18 id. 687 (1873), cases. ' Ang. & A. Corp, § 5; Toledo Bank v. Bond, 1 Ohio The corpus of an estate is the material object, or species of property, of which the estate is composed. It is this which, generally, is vested in a trustee, in distinction from the income of the estate, which is allotted to the beneficiary.! The corpus of a railroad is the roadway, embankment, superstructure, and equipment.'' Corpus comitatus. The body of the county. See Body, 3.

Corpus delicti

The essential element of an offense: the fact that the particular crime alleged has been actually committed. To warrant a conviction for murder there must be direct proof either of the death, as by the finding and identification of the corpse, or of criminal violence adequate to produce death and exerted in such manas to account for the disappearance of the body. The corpus delicti in murder has two components: death as the result, and the criminal.agency of another as the means. Where there is direct proof of the one, the other can be established by circumstantial evidence.' The corpus delicti must be proved like any other fact, that is, beyond a reasonable doubt, and that doubt is for the jury. A confession alone is not regarded as suf Boient proof. The State must first produce sufficient evidence to send the case to the jury, and the jury are first to be satisfied, from that evidence, that the crime has been committed.* The doctrine applies to other crimes, as, larceny. The possession of the fruits of a crime may do away with direct proof of the corpus delicti.^ Corpus Juris Civilis. See Pandects. CORRELATIVE OBLiaATIONS.

See Assent.