State v. Hummel, 266 P.3d 269

Bruce Hummel was convicted of premeditated murder of his wife Alice.
Corpus delicti rule required independent evidence of death and a causal link to a criminal act before admitting statements.
Independent evidence showed Alice disappeared soon after daughter Shanalyn disclosed years of molestation by Hummel.
Post-disappearance behavior by Hummel (forging signatures, hiding belongings, stealing disability payments) supported a criminal act linked to Alice’s death.
Letters and alleged communications from Alice after disappearance lacked authenticate handwriting, but other independent evidence supported death presumed as crime-related.
Court reversed on public-trial grounds and remanded for a new trial; affirmed corpus delicti admissibility, subject to remand for trial evidentiary issues.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Corpus delicti sufficiency for first-degree murder	Hummel contends independent evidence supports multiple innocent hypotheses.	Dow/Aten require proof of nonexistence of innocent explanations and mental state.	Evidence supports death and criminal causation; corpus delicti satisfied.
Public trial right and in-chambers questioning	Bone-Club analysis required; closure violated public trial rights.	Closure necessary to protect trial fairness; Momah precedent.	Remanded for new trial due to failure to perform Bone-Club analysis (Strode rule).
Confrontation Clause and witnesses’ searches testimony	Search-related testimony should be treated as testimonial under Crawford and Jasper.	Testimony was live, cross-examined; not testimonial in violation.	No confrontation violation; searches were tested on cross-examination.
Prison informant testimony instruction	Inherent untrustworthiness should be cautioned to jurors.	Instruction unnecessary for jailhouse informant in this context.	Trial court did not abuse discretion; Allen interpretation controls.
Offender score inclusion of federal wire fraud convictions	Federal convictions should count toward offender score.	1990 comparability rule governs; federal convictions not necessarily comparable.	Erred to include federal wire fraud convictions; must be excluded on remand.

State v. Aten, 130 Wn.2d 640 (1996) (two elements of corpus delicti: death and causal connection; independent evidence suffices)
State v. Lung, 70 Wn.2d 365 (1967) (corpus delicti may be established without body; reasonable inferences from independent evidence)
Dow v. State, 168 Wn.2d 243 (2010) (RCW 10.58.035; corroboration limits for trustworthy statements)
State v. Brockob, 159 Wn.2d 311 (2006) (independent evidence must provide prima facie corroboration of crime described in statement)
State v. Rooks, 130 Wn. App. 787 (2005) (corpus delicti sufficient when independent evidence supports death and criminal causation)
State v. Mason, 31 Wn. App. 41 (1982) (mental element need not be proved independently where it defines degree, not corpus delicti)
State v. Sellers, 39 Wn. App. 799 (1985) (corpus delicti requires death and criminal agency, not full element proof)
State v. Gates, 28 Wash. 689 (1902) (corpus delicti framework in early cases)
State v. Little, 57 Wn.2d 516 (1961) (two elements: death and causal connection)
State v. Strode, 167 Wn.2d 222 (2009) (public-trial-right protections; plurality on closure analysis)
State v. Momah, 167 Wn.2d 140 (2009) (Bone-Club factors and public trial considerations)
State v. Jasper, 158 Wn. App. 518 (2010) (Confrontation clause scope for non-testimonial proceedings)
State v. Allen, 161 Wn. App. 727 (2011) (no mandatory instruction for cross-racial identifications; weight considerations)