Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Carolina

I am doing a case for my high school business law class and the trial is a homicide trial and I am representing the defense in this case. The case states that the defendent is believed to be guilty but pleas not guilty. Some of the evidence points to him doing it but not all of the evidence is concrete evidence and some of the witnesses' time intervals differentiate. But the biggest contribute to the defense side is that there is not body found to biopsy. the murder weapon was found in the victim's apartment but the defendent's fingerprints were found no where in the victim's apartment. I need some advice on this trial, but mainly need to ask, is the absence of the victim's body enough evidence to prove the defendents case?


Asked on 9/28/10, 7:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Absence of a body is not enough to defeat charges of murder. The prosecutor must prove that the alleged victim is dead, of course, and that the defendant killed him. That's much harder to do without a body, but it is often possible. There is no good reason to forbid prosecuting a provably guilty defendant (or one whose guilt at least appears provable) just because a particular type of evidence hasn't been found, even if that evidence is the victim's body.

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Answered on 10/03/10, 3:09 pm


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