Case Name: McELVEEN et al. v. STATE
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1954-05-07
Citations: 72 So. 2d 785
Docket Number: 
Parties: McELVEEN et al. v. STATE.
Judges: ROBERTS, C. J., and TERRELL, SEBRING and MATHEWS, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 72
Pages: 785–786

Head Matter:
McELVEEN et al. v. STATE.
Supreme Court of Florida. En Banc.
May 7, 1954.
Rehearing Denied June 11, 1954.
M. H. Jones, Clearwater, for appellants.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Bart L. Cohen, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Opinion:
THOMAS, Justice.
We will not soil the pages of our reports with the details of the sordid crime which these defendants confessed they committed.
The appellants question the sufficiency of the evidence to establish the corpus delicti as a basis for the introduction of the confessions. There is no need to reiterate the reasons for the rule that a "confession should not be received in evidence unless there is at least some prima facie proof of the corpus de-licti." Keir v. State, 152 Fla. 389, 11 So.2d 886, 888. The commission by someone of the crime charged need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to make the confession admissible, but it is enough if the evidence tends to show that the crime was committed. Graham v. State, 153 Fla. 807, 16 So.2d 59.
In the instant case the State met the requirement. The position of the men when discovered by the police, the condition of their bodies, the nature of their clothing, and their location in a secluded spot at one or two o'clock in the morning tended to show that the crime charged was committed.
The judgment is—
Affirmed.
ROBERTS, C. J., and TERRELL, SEBRING and MATHEWS, JJ., concur.
DREW, J., and WISEHEART, Associate Justice, dissent.