COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Coleman and Senior Judge Cole 

Argued at Richmond, Virginia 

EDWARD ANDERSON WASHINGTON, JR. 

v. Record No. 1730-94-2 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

 BY JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA NOVEMBER 7, 1995 

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND 

James B. Wilkinson, Judge 

 Cullen D. Seltzer, Assistant Public Defender 

 (David J. Johnson, Public Defender, on briefs), 

 for appellant. 

 Robert B. Beasley, Jr., Assistant Attorney General 

 (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on brief), 

 for appellee. 

 A jury found Edward A. Washington, Jr., the defendant, 

guilty of attempted rape. Washington contends on appeal that the 

trial court erred by admitting into evidence a pornographic 

magazine1 that fell out of his rear pants pocket during the 

commission of the offense. We find no error and affirm the 

conviction. 

 Washington argues that the trial court allowed the 

Commonwealth to introduce the pornographic magazine without 

establishing the necessary foundation that a scientific nexus 

exists between pornography and sexual violence. We do not 

 

 * Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 

 1 The magazine contained sexually explicit photographs and 

articles depicting male and female genitalia and persons engaged 

in heterosexual and homosexual sex. 
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address this argument because whether a scientific basis exists 

for the proposition that pornography contributes to the incidence 

of sexual assaults does not control the admissibility of the 

magazine into evidence. The trial judge admitted the magazine as 

evidence tending to show the defendant's state of mind, which was 

relevant to prove his intention toward his victim. We will not 

disturb the trial court's exercise of discretion in admitting the 

evidence unless it was plainly wrong. See Enoch v. Commonwealth, 

141 Va. 411, 438, 126 S.E. 222, 230 (1925). 

 In Enoch, a young woman was raped and murdered. Two days 

later, the police arrested Enoch and found in his possession 

photographs of naked women. Id. at 437, 126 S.E. at 230. The 

trial court stated that the "lewd photographs . . . taken from 

the pocket of the accused at the time of his arrest were 

calculated to inflame the sexual passions of a man, and were 

allowed in evidence as tending to show the state of mind of the 

accused and the motive for the commission of the double crime of 

rape and murder." Id. at 437-38, 126 S.E. at 230. The Supreme 

Court held that "[t]he question of [the photographs'] 

admissibility was one resting in the sound discretion of the 

trial court, and, as its judgement is not plainly wrong, it will 

not be disturbed." Id. at 438, 126 S.E. at 230. 

 In Bunting v. Commonwealth, 208 Va. 309, 313-14, 157 S.E.2d 

204, 208 (1967), the Supreme Court distinguished Enoch. While 

searching Bunting's home five months after the rape, the police 
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found several "girlie magazines" and photographs of a "scantily 

clothed female." Id. at 311, 157 S.E.2d at 206. The Supreme 

Court held that the trial court erred in admitting the 

photographs. Id. at 314, 157 S.E.2d at 208. 

 We do not think that Enoch can be relied on 

as authority for admitting in evidence the 

photographs in the present case. There the 

lewd pictures of naked women were found on 

the accused shortly after the young lady was 

raped and murdered. In the present case the 

pictures show defendant's wife in bed wearing 

what appears to be short pajamas. The 

evidence does not show when the photographs 

were taken and for what purpose. They were 

not taken from defendant's person but were 

found in his home months after the rape 

charge. 

Id. (emphasis added). 

 In the present case, Patrick Leonard testified that he saw 

the magazine in Washington's back pocket when Washington was on 

top of the victim. When Washington tackled her, she landed on 

her back with Washington on top of her. The victim noticed that 

the zipper on Washington's pants was open. She testified that 

Washington straddled her, "anchoring [her] buttocks with both his 

knees," and was "trying to pull his pants . . . apart and down." 

 The magazine fell out of Washington's pocket when he stood up 

and ran, and Leonard retrieved the magazine shortly after 

apprehending Washington. The facts in this case are more 

compelling and more similar to the facts in Enoch than they are 

to Bunting. If the lewd photographs taken from Enoch's 

possession two days after the rape were relevant to prove his 
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state of mind and motive, then the pornographic magazine that 

Washington possessed at the time of the assault was relevant to 

prove his state of mind and motive. The trial court specifically 

instructed the jury that the magazine was admissible only to show 

the defendant's state of mind at the time and that they were free 

to accept or reject its probative value on this issue. The 

magazine was introduced to show the defendant's state of mind at 

the time of the crime, and not to establish an empirical or 

scientific link between pornography and violence against women, 

and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the 

pornographic magazine for this purpose. We affirm the 

defendant's conviction. 

Affirmed.