RAYYIS

Like most American jurisdictions, California adheres to the “corpus delicti” rule, under which the corpus delicti—essentially, the fact that a crime has been committed—cannot be proved based solely on extrajudicial statements of the defendant. (People v. Alvarez (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1161, 1169, 1173 [ 119 Cal.Rptr.2d 903 , 46 P.3d 372 ] (Alvarez).) Over the years, courts have consistently applied this rule not only to the actual trial of a defendant, but also to the preliminary hearing where it must be determined if sufficient evidence has been presented to hold the defendant to answer.

In this case, however, the trial court concluded the corpus delicti rule no longer applies to preliminary hearings in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Alvarez, supra, 27 Cal.4th 1161 , which construed the effect of the passage of Proposition 8 in 1982 on the corpus delicti rule. In light of that determination, the trial court denied petitioner’s motion to set aside the counts in the information charging petitioner with money laundering and filing false income tax returns.

We hold that in reaching its conclusion, the trial court erred. Nothing in Proposition 8 or in Alvarez suggests…