Opinion ID: 1058506
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Display of Skull and Admission of Photographs

Text: The State next challenges the Court of Criminal Appeals's conclusion that the trial court erred both in allowing the forensic pathologist to use the victim's cleaned and reconstructed skull when testifying about the victim's injuries and in admitting into evidence certain photographs depicting the victim's body. While the State concedes that the Court of Criminal Appeals recited the correct standard of appellate review, the State nonetheless maintains that the Court of Criminal Appeals failed to apply the correct standard. According to the State, rather than determining whether the trial court abused its discretion, the intermediate appellate court independently assessed the propriety of using the skull at trial before concluding there was  no need for its introduction. [8] The State also relies upon several cases in which this Court rejected defense challenges to the admission of a victim's skull during a murder trial. See, e.g., State v. Pike, 978 S.W.2d 904, 925 (Tenn.1998); State v. Cazes, 875 S.W.2d 253, 263 (Tenn. 1994); State v. King, 718 S.W.2d 241, 250-51 (Tenn.1986); State v. Morris, 641 S.W.2d 883, 888 (Tenn.1982). In response, Robinson argues that this Court's prior decisions are not controlling because, unlike the defendants in those cases, he was charged with premeditated first degree murder by criminal responsibility and was not accused of actually inflicting the fatal injuries upon the victim. Furthermore, the defendant argues that Dr. Deering's thorough and clear testimony regarding the victim's injuries rendered the skull's use unnecessary. Although Robinson admits that Dr. Deering's testimony and use of the skull to explain the order of the gunshots corroborated Shipp's testimony, the defendant nonetheless maintains that the skull was not relevant to any disputed issue in the guilt phase of his trial. The defendant argues that, in light of the great danger of unfair prejudice, the trial court erred by allowing Dr. Deering to testify and display the skull during his testimony. [9] Admission of evidence is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court, and a trial court's ruling on evidence will be disturbed only upon a clear showing of abuse of discretion. See State v. DuBose, 953 S.W.2d 649, 652 (Tenn.1997). A trial court's exercise of discretion will not be reversed on appeal unless the court applied an incorrect legal standard, or reached a decision which is against logic or reasoning that caused an injustice to the party complaining. State v. Shuck, 953 S.W.2d 662, 669 (Tenn.1997). When determining admissibility, a trial court must first decide if the evidence is relevant. Tenn. R. Evid. 402 (All relevant evidence is admissible except as provided by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Tennessee, these rules or other rules or laws of general application in the courts of Tennessee. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.); State v. James, 81 S.W.3d 751, 757 (Tenn.2002). Evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence is relevant evidence. Tenn. R. Evid. 401. After a court concludes evidence is relevant, the court must then weigh the probative value of the evidence against the danger the evidence will unfairly prejudice the defendant at trial. Relevant evidence should be excluded if the court determines that the probative value of the evidence is substantially outweighed by its danger of unfair prejudice. Tenn. R. Evid. 403 (emphasis added). This Court previously has emphasized: Rule 403 is a rule of admissibility, and it places a heavy burden on the party seeking to exclude the evidence. Excluding relevant evidence under this rule is an extraordinary remedy that should be used sparingly and persons seeking to exclude otherwise admissible and relevant evidence have a significant burden of persuasion. James, 81 S.W.3d at 757-58 (internal quotations and citations omitted). Applying these principles, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing Dr. Deering to testify and display the skull to explain his testimony. Indeed, nothing in this record indicates that the trial court applied an incorrect legal standard, or reached a decision which is against logic or reasoning that caused an injustice to the party complaining. In a jury-out hearing the trial court carefully considered the defense objections, correctly summarized governing law regarding the prosecution's right to prove its case, and accurately concluded that this right may not be foreclosed by a defendant's characterization of the proof as undisputed or by a defendant's offer to stipulate or concede certain factual issues. See James, 81 S.W.3d at 761; State v. West, 767 S.W.2d 387, 394 (Tenn.1989) (holding that the trial judge did not err by refusing to accept defendant's offer to stipulate the identity of all property when the defendant made the offer in an effort to eliminate highly emotional and prejudicial testimony); King, 718 S.W.2d at 250-51 (holding that the victim's skull and skull fragments were properly admitted even though the defendant stipulated prior to trial that the victim's death resulted from a shot in the back of the head from a high-powered rifle). After acknowledging that relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, the trial court specifically concluded that the probative value of Dr. Deering's testimony and his use of the skull to explain his testimony outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice. The trial court stated: I can't think of a better way to display and show the injuries than by use of the actual skull. I'm not sure that you could recreate that sufficient to do what I anticipate the doctor's going to do based on what I heard him do last time. Later in the proceeding while ruling upon the admissibility of certain photographs, the trial court noted that the skull was less graphic and a better aid to demonstrate the injuries than some of the photographs. Defense counsel apparently agreed with this assessment, stating, [a]nd with that skull you don't have the blood and the gore that you see in those photographs. [Dr. Deering] more than adequately demonstrated to this entire courtroom in a very academic, professional fashion. Furthermore, as the defendant correctly admits, Dr. Deering's testimony about the order of the gunshots corroborated Shipp's testimony. Indeed, it was Shipp's testimony about the order of the gunshots that Dr. Deering used the skull to clarify and explain. Such corroborating evidence clearly was relevant because it was necessary to the prosecution's case. This Court repeatedly has held that a conviction may not be based solely upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice to the offense. See State v. Bane, 57 S.W.3d 411, 419 (Tenn.2001); State v. Stout, 46 S.W.3d 689, 696-97 (Tenn.2001); State v. Bigbee, 885 S.W.2d 797, 803 (Tenn.1994). Evidence corroborating an accomplice's testimony, such as Dr. Deering's testimony, therefore certainly qualifies as evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable. Tenn. R. Evid. 401. The defendant bore the heavy burden of establishing that the danger of unfair prejudice from Dr. Deering's testimony and use of the skull substantially outweighed its probative value. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that the defendant failed to meet this burden. The Court of Criminal Appeals's decision to the contrary is reversed. The State also challenges the Court of Criminal Appeals's conclusion that the trial court erred by admitting Exhibit 10, a post-mortem photograph of the victim's right forehead. Again, admission of evidence is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court, and appellate courts should not reverse a trial court's admissibility decision absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Here again, no abuse of discretion has been shown. The trial court found, and the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, that the photograph in question, Exhibit 10, along with two other photographs, Exhibits 8 and 9, [10] were relevant to show premeditation, the cause of death, and the victim's location and body position, and also were necessary to illustrate the testimony of many of the state's witnesses. Immediately upon admission of the photographs, the trial court gave the jury a limiting instruction and cautioned the jury against improperly using the photographs. The trial court did not act as a rubber stamp and admit every photograph the prosecution proffered. As previously stated, the trial court excluded certain autopsy photographs, noting their admission was not necessary because Dr. Deering had been allowed to use the victim's skull as a demonstrative aid. The trial court did not apply an incorrect legal standard. Tennessee courts follow a policy of liberality in the admission of photographs in both civil and criminal cases. See State v. Banks, 564 S.W.2d 947, 949 (Tenn.1978). Photographs of a corpse are generally admissible in murder prosecutions if they are relevant to the issues at trial. Id. at 950-51. The trial court's determination that the photographs were relevant to issues at trial is not illogical nor irrational and did not cause an injustice to the defendant. As the trial court found, the photographs were relevant to several issues, illustrated and supplemented the testimony of Dr. Deering, and revealed the brutality of the attack and the extent of force used against the victim. See State v. Smith, 868 S.W.2d 561, 576 (Tenn.1993). For all these reasons, we conclude that the trial court did not err by admitting Exhibits 8, 9, and 10 into evidence. The Court of Criminal Appeals's decision to the contrary is reversed.