"
The attorney stopped, looked down at Mason with a pompous sneer,
and retired to his place at the table. The judge sat thoughtful
and motionless. The jurymen leaned forward in their seats.
"If your Honor please," said Mason, rising, "this is a matter of
law, plain, clear, and so well settled in the State of New York
that even counsel for the People should know it. The question
before your Honor is simple. If the corpus delicti, the body of
the crime, has been proven, as required by the laws of the
commonwealth, then this case should go to the jury. If not, then
it is the duty of this Court to direct the jury to find the
prisoner not guilty. There is here no room for judicial
discretion. Your Honor has but to recall and apply the rigid rule
announced by our courts prescribing distinctly how the corpus
delicti in murder must be proven.
"The prisoner here stands charged with the highest crime. The law
demands, first, that the crime, as a fact, be established. The
fact that the victim is indeed dead must first be made certain
before anyone can be convicted for her killing, because, so long as
there remains the remotest doubt as to the death, there can be no
certainty as to the criminal agent, although the circumstantial
evidence indicating the guilt of the accused may be positive,
complete, and utterly irresistible.
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