Ruloff v. . the People.

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the murder conviction and ordered a new trial, holding that the trial judge erred by refusing to direct an acquittal when the prosecution offered no direct proof of the infant's death or the criminal act causing it. The court affirmed that, while circumstantial evidence may establish death, it must be so strong as to produce moral certainty, and the jury cannot be instructed to infer death absent such proof.