Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Re: phone tapes

If the phone call in question was lawfully recorded on a court-authorized wiretap and on the tape you implicate yourself in the commission of a crime, your admissions can be the basis for prosecution of a criminal charge. However, if the Federal prosecutor wants to get the recording containing your statements admitted into evidence, there must be some sort of �corroboration� of the admissions you make on the tape. This is called the �corpus delicti� rule.

Corroboration is independent evidence that confirms the correctness or accuracy of your statements. In criminal cases, corroboration evidence must confirm or tend to confirm the guilt of the defendant. The burden of proof for corroborating confessions in criminal cases is said to be �slight,� which means that it need not be sufficient in and of itself to establish the defendant�s guilt.

I�d guess if your asking this question, you may potentially be facing Federal charges or have already been indicted by a Grand Jury or summonsed on a criminal information (which is a charging instrument used in Federal Court). If that�s the case, you definitely need a lawyer to advise you on your defense. Federal criminal prosecution is serious business, so don�t delay in obtaining counsel.