Opinion ID: 1709479
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Corroboration of Defendant's Confession.

Text: Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 20(4) provides the confession of a defendant, unless made in open court, will not support a conviction unless accompanied by other proof that the defendant committed the offense. State v. Schomaker, 303 N.W.2d 129, 130 (Iowa 1981); State v. Hobson, 284 N.W.2d 239, 243 (Iowa 1979). Defendant argues there was not other proof in this case and that the court erred in allowing the jury to consider his confession. The existence of corroborating evidence is an issue to be decided by the court. The sufficiency of such evidence is a question for the jury. Id. We believe there was ample other proof to submit the confession for jury consideration. The confession detailed the actions of defendant immediately before, during, and after the crime. This included the route followed before the shooting, the location of the fatal wound, the finding of the gun, the disposal of Clary's presumed lifeless body, the attempt to buy gas on credit at a local gas station, and the abandonment there of defendant by Manning. All these circumstances were verified by the testimony of state witnesses. In addition, and even more conclusive, is the testimony of defendant at trial. It is well settled that a defendant's trial testimony may furnish corroboration of his confession. United States v. Calderon, 348 U.S. 160, 165-66, 75 S.Ct. 186, 188-89, 99 L.Ed. 202, 207-08 (1954); 30 Am.Jur.2d Evidence § 1137, at 313 (1967). We applied this same rule to accomplice testimony in State v. Bizzett, 212 N.W.2d 466, 468-69 (Iowa 1973), and in State v. Williams, 207 N.W.2d 98, 107-08 (Iowa 1973). We have since held that the rule requiring corroboration of confessions is similar to that requiring corroboration of accomplice testimony. State v. Hobson, 284 N.W.2d at 243. At trial, defendant testified he shot Clary just as he had admitted in his confession. The only difference is that at trial he claimed he was coerced into doing so by Manning. He made no such claim in his confession. This trial testimony furnishes strong corroboration of defendant's confession. Defendant's claim that his confession should not have gone to the jury is without merit. Finding no reversible error in any of the issues raised, we affirm the trial court. AFFIRMED.