New York Court of Appeals
The People of the State of New York, Respondent v. Joseph Cuozzo, Appellant
January 20, 1944292 N.Y. 85
Summary
The Court of Appeals reversed Joseph Cuozzo's murder conviction, holding that the confessions were unreliable and that the prosecution failed to provide the statutory additional proof of corpus delicti required by Section 395 of the New York Code of Criminal Procedure. The Court found no independent evidence establishing that the defendant committed the killing, rendering the confession insufficient for conviction. A dissent argued that the confessions were credible and that the conviction should be affirmed.