Need to understand usage of "so as much" here

I was reading "The stranger" in which a person is guilty of a murder. The prosecutor asks "Has he so much as expressed any remorse?"

I understand that he is trying to ask if he has expressed any remorse till this time. I am not used to the sentence used above and trying to understand the usage of "so much as" here

Answer

The functional phrase here is:

so much as

Which is used to indicate a very minimal level of effort, for example:

This is the laziest example of plagiarism I've ever seen, the student didn't so much as change a single word from the original source.

You can generally replace the phrase "so much as" with the word "even"

In your case:

Has he even expressed any remorse?

The "as" is being used in the comparative sense, like in the phrase:

Did he do as well as Frank?

To compare the actions of the person in question with the stated standard.