## Facts

- Joseph Borrelli reported to police that he had been carjacked and that his vehicle was taken.
- About three weeks later, in a follow-up police interview, Borrelli stated he did not remember how he became separated from his car and did not know that he had been carjacked.
- The prosecution charged Borrelli with knowingly filing a false police report under Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.411a.
- At the preliminary examination, the prosecution conceded it had no evidence that the original carjacking report was false other than Borrelli’s later statements.
- The district court dismissed the charge under Michigan’s corpus delicti rule; the circuit court affirmed, and the court of appeals denied leave to appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether Michigan’s corpus delicti rule permits prosecution for knowingly filing a false police report when falsity is supported only by the defendant’s later admission.
2. Whether Michigan should replace its common-law corpus delicti rule with the federal corroboration approach associated with Opper v. United States.

## Decision

- The Michigan Supreme Court denied the prosecution’s application for leave to appeal.
- The denial left intact the lower courts’ dismissal of the charge for lack of independent evidence establishing the corpus delicti apart from the defendant’s admission.
- A concurring justice agreed leave should be denied based on stare decisis but expressed concern about the rule’s effect on false-reporting prosecutions.

## Legal Principles

- Under Michigan’s common-law corpus delicti rule, a defendant’s confession or admission is not admissible unless independent direct or circumstantial evidence shows (1) a specific injury or loss and (2) a criminal agency as its source.
- Michigan declined, in this proceeding, to adopt the federal corroboration standard that focuses on independent evidence tending to establish the trustworthiness of a confession rather than independent proof of the corpus delicti.
- When the only proof that a police report was false is the defendant’s later admission, the corpus delicti rule may require dismissal at the preliminary examination stage.

## Conclusion

The Michigan Supreme Court’s denial of leave to appeal left Michigan’s corpus delicti doctrine unchanged and sustained dismissal of a knowingly false police report charge where the prosecution lacked evidence of falsity independent of the defendant’s own later statements.


People v. Borrelli, 463 Mich. 930 (2000)