Opinion ID: 757051
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Unduly Prejudicial Evidence

Text: 66 Hall next claims that the district court abused its discretion by admitting certain evidence which he claims was irrelevant and highly prejudicial. Specifically, he complains of the district court's admission of (1) graphic photographs of Lisa Rene's body; (2) a videotape depicting a walk through Byrd Lake Park to the grave site, surveillance of the area where Lisa Rene's burned clothing was recovered, and an examination of the grave site during the exhumation of Lisa Rene's body; and (3) testimony by Hall's girlfriend in which she claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint while purchasing drugs for Hall. We review a district court's evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Torres, 114 F.3d 520, 525-26 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 316, 139 L.Ed.2d 244 (1997).
67 Hall claims that the district court abused its discretion by admitting photographs of Lisa Rene's body in the grave and after its removal during the guilt phase of his trial. Hall first argues that the photographs were rendered legally irrelevant by the fact that he offered to stipulate to the identity of the victim and her cause of death. Additionally, Hall complains that the photographs were particularly gruesome because they depicted Lisa Rene's body in a state of decomposition. He also argues that the photographs were cumulative of detailed testimony of a medical examiner regarding the condition of Lisa Rene's body. As such, he argues that the district court's admission of the photographs violated Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence because any probative value the photographs might have possessed was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. FED.R.EVID. 403. 68 We note as an initial matter that the photographs were relevant to Lisa Rene's identity and the cause of her death, and Hall's offer to stipulate to these facts did not render them irrelevant. The advisory committee notes to Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which establishes the definition of legal relevance, speak directly to this issue: 69 The fact to which the evidence is directed need not be in dispute. While situations will arise which call for the exclusion of evidence offered to prove a point conceded by the opponent, the ruling should be made on the basis of such considerations as waste of time and undue prejudice (see Rule 403), rather than under any general requirement that evidence is admissible only if directed to matters in dispute. 70 FED.R.EVID. 401 advisory committee notes. The reason that a criminal defendant cannot typically avoid the introduction of other evidence of a particular element of the offense by stipulation is that the government must be given the opportunity to present to the jury a picture of the events relied upon. To substitute for such a picture a naked admission might have the effect to rob the evidence of much of its fair and legitimate weight. Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 117 S.Ct. 644, 653, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). Our sole inquiry, then, is whether admission of the photographs violated Rule 403. See id., 117 S.Ct. at 650 (If ... relevant evidence is inadmissible in the presence of other evidence related to it, its exclusion must rest not on the ground that the other evidence has rendered it 'irrelevant,' but on its character as unfairly prejudicial, cumulative or the like, its relevance notwithstanding.). We conclude that admission of the photographs did not violate Rule 403. 71 In United States v. McRae, 593 F.2d 700 (5th Cir.1979), this court addressed a Rule 403 challenge to the district court's admission in a murder trial of numerous photographs of the victim and the death scene which the district court had described as gross, distasteful and disturbing. See id. at 707. One of these photographs was a view of [the victim's] corpse, clothed in her bloody garments, bent forward so as to display an exit wound in the back of her skull produced by part of [the defendant's] dum-dum bullet, which exploded in her brain; another was a front view of [the victim's] body, seated in the chair where she died, her left eye disfigured by the bullet's entry and her head broken by its force. Id. In holding that the admission of these photographs did not violate Rule 403, we observed, 72 Relevant evidence is inherently prejudicial; but it is only unfair prejudice, substantially outweighing probative value, which permits exclusion of relevant matter under Rule 403. Unless trials are to be conducted on scenarios, on unreal facts tailored and sanitized for the occasion, the application of Rule 403 must be cautious and sparing. 73 Id. We see no basis for distinguishing between the photographs at issue in McRae and those at issue here. We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the probative value of the photographs was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or by concerns regarding the needless presentation of cumulative evidence. See United States v. Rezaq, 134 F.3d 1121, 1138 (D.C.Cir.1998) (upholding a district court's admission of an autopsy photograph showing the removal of a bullet from a hijacking victim's head even though the photograph was only probative of the fact that the victim was shot in the head, a point [that] did not especially need elucidation); United States v. Analla, 975 F.2d 119, 125-26 (4th Cir.1992) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting photographs depicting two gunshot wounds to a robbery victim's head and another photograph depicting an individual murdered during the robbery lying in a pool of blood); United States v. Bowers, 660 F.2d 527, 529-30 (5th Cir. Unit B Sept.1981) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting a color photograph of a child's lacerated heart to prove cause of death and noting that the mere fact that appellant stipulated with the government as to the cause of death did not preclude the government from offering proof on that issue).
74 Hall next contends that the district court abused its discretion in admitting during the penalty phase of his trial a videotape depicting a walk through the park in which Lisa Rene was killed, the area where her burned clothes were recovered, and the exhumation of her body. He further complains that the district court erred by allowing the jury to view the tape during deliberations when they had not previously viewed it in open court. 75 We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the videotape's probative value [was not] outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. 18 U.S.C. § 3593(c). As the government points out, the videotape was relevant to the aggravating factor that the killing was committed in a heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it depicted the path through the woods toward the grave site that Hall and his cohorts forced Lisa Rene to walk barefoot on two occasions. Moreover, the depiction of the grave site demonstrated the amount of planning that went into the murder and was thus probative regarding the aggravating factor that the murder was committed with substantial planning and premeditation. 76 Even if we were to conclude that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the videotape, such error was harmless. An erroneous evidentiary ruling constitutes harmless error if it does not affect the substantial rights of the complaining party. See Torres, 114 F.3d at 526; see also United States v. Asibor, 109 F.3d 1023, 1032 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 254, 139 L.Ed.2d 182 , and cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 638, 139 L.Ed.2d 617 (1997). An error is deemed to have affected a criminal defendant's substantial rights if it  'had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict.'  United States v. Lowery, 135 F.3d 957, 959 (5th Cir.1998) (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 776, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)). 77 We conclude that the videotape could not have had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the jury's sentencing recommendation because, as Hall concedes, the contents of the tape were largely cumulative of the testimony and photographs admitted during the guilt phase of Hall's trial. See United States v. Allie, 978 F.2d 1401, 1409 (5th Cir.1992) (stating that the improper admission of evidence that is merely cumulative constitutes harmless error); 3A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 854, at 311 (2d ed.1982) (Error in the admission of evidence is harmless if the facts shown by that evidence are already before the jury through other properly-admitted evidence.). 78 As to Hall's claim that the district court improperly allowed the jury to view the videotape during deliberations even though the jury had not previously viewed the tape in open court, our review is sharply circumscribed by the scope of Hall's objection when the district court admitted the tape into evidence. Hall objected to the admissibility of the tape; however, he did not object to the district court's decision to allow the jurors to view the tape only at their discretion during deliberations. Accordingly, we review Hall's claim that the jury should not have been allowed to view the tape during deliberations when they had not previously viewed it in open court for plain error. See FED. R.CRIM. P. 52(b); United States v. Jones, 132 F.3d 232, 243 (5th Cir.1998). 79 Under the plain error standard, we may reverse only if (1) there was error (2) that was clear and obvious and (3) that affected [Hall's] substantial rights. United States v. Dupre, 117 F.3d 810, 817 (5th Cir.1997), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 857, 139 L.Ed.2d 756 (1998); see also United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 731-36, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). Normally, although perhaps not in every case, the defendant must make a specific showing of prejudice to satisfy the 'affecting substantial rights' prong of [the plain error inquiry]. Olano, 507 U.S. at 735, 113 S.Ct. 1770. Even when these criteria are satisfied, we should exercise our discretion to reverse only if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. at 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted); see also Dupre, 117 F.3d at 817. 80 Assuming that the district court erred in allowing the jury to view the videotape only during deliberations, we cannot say that such error was open or obvious nor that it affected Hall's substantial rights. The only prejudice that Hall alleges resulted from the fact that the jurors did not view the tape in open court was that his counsel was prevented from making a record of any excessive or prejudicial responses to the evidence. However, Hall has cited no cases in which this court's evaluation of evidentiary rulings hinged upon the jury's actual reactions to the purportedly inadmissible evidence. Moreover, we note that, by giving the jury discretion as to whether to view the videotape, Hall was, at least in a limited sense, benefitted by the fact that the jury may not have viewed the tape. This is a possibility that would not have existed had the district court chosen to play the tape in open court. That may very well have been the reason that Hall's attorneys did not object to the district court's decision not to play the videotape in open court in the first place. Hall thus has not established that the district court's decision not to play the videotape in open court rises to the level of plain error. 81
82 Hall next complains of the district court's admission of the testimony of LaTonya Anders, Hall's girlfriend, that she was robbed while in Houston attempting to purchase crack cocaine on Hall's behalf while he was on parole and that he continued to send her to purchase drugs after these incidents. This testimony was generally relevant to Hall's future dangerousness in that (1) it demonstrated the lengths to which Hall would go to continue his drug trafficking activities and (2) it demonstrated that he was an organizer and leader of criminal activity. While the small amount of testimony regarding Anders's robbery may have had little, if any, relevance to the aggravating factors that the government sought to prove, we are confident that, given the heinousness of the offense of which Hall was convicted, this isolated testimony could not have had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the jury's sentencing recommendation. As such, any error in its admission was harmless.