Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 27

Heading: Photographs of Murder Victims

Text: (64) Defendant challenges trial court rulings admitting in evidence photographs of murder victims Barnes and Hickey. All photographs showed the bodies as they were found by police, except two photographs that showed the bullet holes in the back of Barnes's head after it had been shaved. Defendant contends that the photographs were irrelevant, cumulative, and unduly prejudicial, and that their admission violated these rights under the federal Constitution: the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, the Eighth Amendment right to a reliable verdict in a capital case, and the Sixth Amendment right to a fair jury trial. The photographs were not irrelevant. The photographs of Richard Barnes demonstrated he was killed execution style, without a struggle, by three contact wounds to the back of the head. This supported the prosecution's theory that the killing was intended to be immediately identifiable as the work of the AB to serve as a warning to those who had defected or were considering defection from the gang. The photographs of Hickey demonstrated that she was beaten in brutal fashion, that her body was moved on the bed before she died, and that two small incisions were made below one breast after her death. This supported the prosecution's theory that the beating was done deliberately, with malice and intent to kill, that the body was moved in the process of a thorough search of the room, and that the body was cut to determine whether the victim was dead. We have often rejected the argument that photographs of a murder victim should be excluded as cumulative if the facts for which the photographs are offered have been established by testimony. (E.g., People v. Kaurish (1990) 52 Cal.3d 648, 684 [276 Cal. Rptr. 788, 802 P.2d 278]; People v. Kelly (1990) 51 Cal.3d 931, 963 [275 Cal. Rptr. 160, 800 P.2d 516]; People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 871 [268 Cal. Rptr. 802, 789 P.2d 983].) Because the photographic evidence could assist the jury in understanding and evaluating the testimony, we reject the argument here as well. A trial court has broad discretion in determining the admissibility of murder victim photographs against a claim that the photographs will arouse in the jurors an excessively emotional response. ( People v. Wright (1990) 52 Cal.3d 367, 434 [276 Cal. Rptr. 731, 802 P.2d 221]; People v. Coleman, supra, 46 Cal.3d 749, 776.) Here, the record shows that the trial court weighed the probative value of the photographs against their potential prejudicial effect before admitting them. No abuse of discretion has been demonstrated, nor has defendant demonstrated violation of any right under the federal Constitution.