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CORROBORATE Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

To strengthen; to add weight or credibility to a tiling by additional and confirming facts or evidence. Still v. State (Tex. Cr. R.) 50 S. W. 355; State v. Hicks, 0 -S. D. 325. 00 N. W. 00; Schefter v. Hatch, 70 Hun. 597. 25 N. T. Supp. 240. The expression “corroborating circumstances” clearly does not mean facts which, independent of a confession, will warrant a conviction; for then the verdict would stand not on the confession, but upon those independent circumstances. To corroborate is to strengthen, to confirm by additional security, to add strength. The testimony of a witness is said to be corroborated when it is shown to correspond with the representation of some other witness, or to comport with some facts otherwise known or established. Corroborating circumstances, then, used in reference to a confession, are such as serve to strengthen it, to render it more probable; such, in short, as may serve to impress a jury with a belief in its truth. State v. Guild, 10 N. J. Law, 103, 18 Am. Dec. 404.

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