Opinion ID: 853246
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Photograph of Victim

Text: The defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting State's Exhibit 15, an autopsy photograph of the victim, because the photograph's prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value. The defendant argues that she stipulated to the victim's identity and cause of death, and that the photograph shows the victim in an altered condition. The challenged photograph portrays the face of the victim with tubes extending from the victim's mouth and nose. The admission and exclusion of evidence falls within the sound discretion of the trial court, and is reviewed only for abuse of discretion. Byers v. State, 709 N.E.2d 1024, 1028 (Ind.1999); Amburgey v. State, 696 N.E.2d 44, 45 (Ind.1998). Relevant evidence, including photographs, may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Ind.Evidence Rule 403; Byers, 709 N.E.2d at 1028. The defendant first argues that the photograph was not relevant to any issue at trial because there was no dispute about the identity of the victim or that a living person was killed. The autopsy report regarding Ballard and two autopsy photographs were admitted by stipulation of the parties. This occurred at the end of the State's case. Record at 438-40. But, at the point in the trial when Exhibit 15 was admitted, the State still had the burden of proving the identity of the alleged victim. Photographs of a victim's corpse in a homicide case are relevant to prove the identity of the victim. [2] Butler v. State, 647 N.E.2d 631, 633-34 (Ind.1995); Hughes v. State, 546 N.E.2d 1203, 1211 (Ind.1989); Brown v. State, 503 N.E.2d 405, 409 (Ind.1987). The photograph was relevant to show the identity of the victim. The relevance of the exhibit is only part of the inquiry, however. Rule 403 permits the exclusion of relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. The defendant refers us to cases in which we have found the danger of prejudicial effect to be high in photographs where the body depicted has been altered in some way. See, e.g., Turben v. State, 726 N.E.2d 1245, 1247 (Ind.2000)(finding photograph showing gloved hands manipulating a bloody mass with a probe inadmissible); Allen v. State, 686 N.E.2d 760, 776 (Ind.1997)([A]utopsy photographs are generally inadmissible if they show the body in an altered condition.); Loy v. State, 436 N.E.2d 1125, 1128 (Ind.1982); Warrenburg v. State, 260 Ind. 572, 574, 298 N.E.2d 434, 435 (1973)(finding it error to admit autopsy photograph which showed a partially resewn corpse, nude from the waist up, with the right arm of the corpse severed completely and the left arm re-attached with gaping sutures); Kiefer v. State, 239 Ind. 103, 111-12, 153 N.E.2d 899, 904-05 (1958)(finding it reversible error to admit autopsy photographs showing hands and instruments of surgeon inside chest of victim). Evaluation of whether the exhibit's probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice is a discretionary task best performed by the trial court. We are not persuaded that the court abused its discretion in admitting the exhibit.