Opinion ID: 2387577
Heading Depth: 7
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Memorial and funeral services

Text: The jury also viewed a six-minute, edited videotape highlighting Officer Ganz's memorial and funeral services. [14] The videotape began with Officer Ganz's casket draped in an American flag and with his officer's peaked cap on top of it; the casket was near a church chancel and numerous uniformed officers filed in and sat down. The officers then were seen leaving the church, and the casket was escorted out of the church and into a hearse. Next was an overhead shot of the funeral procession, which included numerous police motorcycles. The procession arrived at the gravesite, and Officer Ganz's mother refused to get out of her vehicle. Officer Ganz's police motorcycle, towed in a trailer, then arrived. There were several shots of various people crying, including a Marine in full dress uniform, who was Officer Ganz's best friend. A bagpiper led the procession to the gravesite, and numerous officers saluted the casket as it passed. An honor guard folded the American flag and presented it to one of Officer Ganz's sisters, who in turn gave it to their mother. Three members of an honor guard then were seen performing a three-volley rifle salute. Don was crying as he was presented with Officer Ganz's cap, and he was seen being comforted by his family. The videotape concluded with several officers passing by the casket; one left flowers on top of it. Other than the rifle salute and two clips of the bagpipes playing, the only audio on the videotape consisted of brief periods of church bells tolling and a woman singing. The prosecutor indicated a television station had shot the footage, but it was not professionally edited. Defendant cites other jurisdictions' prohibition of gravesite evidence. ( State v. Storey (Mo. 2001) 40 S.W.3d 898, 909 [admission of a photograph of the victim's tombstone was harmless error]; Welch v. State (2000) 2000 OKCR 8 [2 P.3d 356, 373] [admission of testimony about placing flowers on the victim's grave was harmless error].) In contrast, we have not prohibited such evidence. ( People v. Harris, supra, 37 Cal.4th at pp. 351-352 [photographs of the victim's gravesite were relevant to the effect the murder had on her family; testimony about the effect of the accidental opening of the victim's closed casket during the funeral service was harmless error]; see People v. Zamudio (2008) 43 Cal.4th 327, 367-368 [75 Cal.Rptr.3d 289, 181 P.3d 105] [rejecting a challenge to the grave marker photographs included in a videotaped montage]; People v. Kelly (2007) 42 Cal.4th 763, 797 [68 Cal.Rptr.3d 531, 171 P.3d 548] [videotape ended with a brief view of the victim's grave marker]; People v. Jurado, supra, 38 Cal.4th at pp. 133-134 [finding no error in the admission of testimony concerning relatives' visits to the victim's gravesite].) Defendant also cites Salazar v. State, supra, 90 S.W.3d 330, and U.S. v. Sampson (D.Mass. 2004) 335 F.Supp.2d 166 in challenging the use of videotape evidence. We have acknowledged the constitutional issues implicated by these cases. ( People v. Kelly, supra, 42 Cal.4th at pp. 796-799; People v. Prince, supra, 40 Cal.4th at pp. 1286-1291; People v. Robinson, supra, 37 Cal.4th at p. 652.) But in contrast to the videotapes in Salazar and Sampson, the videotape here was shorter in length, did not include images of Officer Ganz as a child, was not a eulogy (as all actual eulogies from the ceremony were edited out), was not enhanced by narration or visual imagery, and was not accompanied by an extensive audio track playing sentimental music. Although the videotape was prepared for the penalty phase, it depicted actual events and was not of professional quality. (13) To be sure, the videotape did emphasize Officer Ganz's death (cf. People v. Kelly, supra, 42 Cal.4th at pp. 796-797), and some of the images on the videotape were evocative: The flag ceremony, the rifle salute, and the bagpipes were not particularly relevant to the effect of Officer Ganz's murder on his family and friends, and tended to produce an emotional response from the viewer. Emotional evidence of how a community mourns the loss of a beloved citizen, however, does not necessarily violate the federal or the state Constitutions. (See People v. Dykes, supra, 46 Cal.4th at p. 780 [victim's school conducted a memorial service]; People v. Huggins, supra, 38 Cal.4th at pp. 237-239 [statue of the victim erected by the community].) Moreover, victim impact evidence need not be limited to testimony that merely implies loss, grief, and anguish; it may also demonstrate it. ( People v. Mills (2010) 48 Cal.4th 158, 211-212 [106 Cal.Rptr.3d 153, 226 P.3d 276] [upholding the admission of a videotape capturing the victim's boyfriend's reaction to news of her death]; see People v. Davis (2009) 46 Cal.4th 539, 618-619 [94 Cal.Rptr.3d 322, 208 P.3d 78] [upholding the admission of a photograph of the victim's visibly upset mother taken on the night of the crime].) In sum, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this videotape.