Opinion ID: 2333091
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Were the photographs and other evidence properly admitted?

Text: Quoting from the opinion in State v. Goebel, 36 Wash. 2 d 367, 218 P. 2 d 300, 306 ( Sup. Ct. 1950), determining there that the minute peg of relevancy was entirely obscured by the quantity of dirty linen hung upon it, counsel urge the numerous cumulative and irrelevant photographs and other exhibits were improper because they had a tendency to inflame and arouse the emotions of the jury. While the photos were common in portraying the same body, each revealed separate aspects which were not evident in the others and all were material as an aid to the jury in determining the extent of the wounds and their probable origin, which was in dispute as the defense insisted Bond's injuries about the head were not the result of an attack but were occasioned by a fall. This question is mainly, if not entirely, within the discretion of the trial court, and its decision will not ordinarily be disturbed unless there is a marked abuse of discretion. State v. Fiore, 94 N.J.L. 477, 479 ( E. & A. 1920); State v. Fine, 110 N.J.L. 67, 69 ( E. & A. 1933). The mere fact the photographs were cumulative does not of itself render them inadmissible. State v. Myers, 7 N.J. 465, 485-486 (1951). See State v. Huff, 14 N.J. 240, 251 (1954), where most of the above cases are cited, commented upon, and the rule is broadened to include colored photographs. Next it is said all of the exhibits consisting of the clothing worn by the deceased at the time of his death were improper and that certain other photographs originally admitted in evidence over the defendants' objection but subsequently stricken from the record by the trial court were prejudicial. Some of the photographs objected to were scenes of the reenactment of the crime. Most of the clothing, apparently from the record, was introduced to assist the jury in determining the location of the entrance of the bullet into the body and the course it pursued thereafter. We think all the exhibits here involved were proper for the orderly and intelligent presentation of the State's case. In any event, their admission was a matter of discretion in the trial court and we will not disturb the ruling unless there is proof of its abuse to the prejudice of the defendant, which does not appear here.