What is the test for establishing the corpus delicti of a crime?

" ' " 'The corpus delicti of a crime consists of two elements[:] the fact of the injury or loss or harm, and the existence of a criminal agency as its cause.' " ' [Citation.] 'In any criminal prosecution, the corpus delicti must be established by the prosecution independently from the extrajudicial statements, confessions or admissions of the defendant.' [Citations.] Such independent proof may consist of circumstantial evidence [citations] and need not establish the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations.]" (People v. Jones (1998) 17 Cal.4th 279, 301.) "The amount of independent proof of a crime required for this purpose is quite small[ and has been] described . . . as 'slight' [citation] or 'minimal' [citation]." (Ibid.) The rule " 'reflects the . . . fear that confessions may be the result of either improper police activity or the mental instability of the accused, and the recognition that juries are likely to accept confessions uncritically.' (Jones v. Superior Court (1979) 96 Cal.App.3d 390, 397.)" (People v. Herrera (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 1191, 1200.) To adequately prove the corpus delicti of a crime " 'the prosecution need not eliminate all inferences tending to show a

Page 6

noncriminal cause of [the harm]. Rather, the foundation may be laid by the introduction of evidence which creates a reasonable inference that the [harm] could have been caused by a criminal agency [citation], even in the presence of an equally plausible noncriminal explanation of the event.' [Citation.]" (People v. Ochoa (1998) 19 Cal.4th 353, 405.)