U.S. v. Arnold, 61 M.J. 254

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Confessions and Admissions › Corroboration

1. MRE 304(g) provides that an admission or a confession of the accused may be considered as evidence against the accused on the question of guilt or innocence only if independent evidence has been introduced that corroborates the essential facts admitted to justify sufficiently an inference of their truth; independent evidence is evidence that is not based on or derived from the accused’s extrajudicial statements
2. the principle of corroboration embedded in MRE 304(g), like the principle underpinning its civilian counterparts, is intended to guard against the false or coerced confession; however, corroborating evidence need not confirm each element of an offense, but rather must corroborate the essential facts admitted to justify sufficiently an inference of their truth; this inference may be drawn from a quantum of corroborating evidence that this Court has described as very slight
3. testimony solely derived from a witness’s review of an accused’s confession cannot independently serve to corroborate that confession