Opinion ID: 1442323
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Photograph of Mrs. Lyman and Her Daughter

Text: Defendant objected to the prosecutor's introduction at the special circumstance phase of a photograph showing Mrs. Lyman with her adult daughter. The court overruled the objection, noting that the photo was simply an ordinary, nongruesome one, and that the jury was already aware Mrs. Lyman had a daughter. The court stated that the photo was not the sort that would either shock the jury or arouse any sort of passion or sympathy. (18) Defendant now argues the photo was irrelevant to any issue and could only have been used for the improper purpose of gaining the jury's sympathy for the victim's family. (See Booth v. Maryland (1987) 482 U.S. 496 [96 L.Ed.2d 440, 107 S.Ct. 2529].) We considered a similar claim of error in People v. Hovey, supra, 44 Cal.3d 543, 576, involving the prosecutor's use, at both the guilt and penalty phases, of a portrait-style photograph of the young murder victim for the apparent purpose of gaining sympathy for her. As we stated in Hovey, Although admission of a photograph of the victim while alive may be considered error if irrelevant to any contested issue in the case, any error here was harmless. [Citations.] [¶] [The victim's] photo, though perhaps `charming,' was nonetheless an `ordinary' one not likely to produce a prejudicial impact. (44 Cal.3d at p. 571.) We have examined the photo in question and conclude, as in Hovey and similar cases, that its introduction could not have prejudiced defendant. (See, e.g., People v. Hendricks (1987) 43 Cal.3d 584, 594-595 [238 Cal. Rptr. 66, 737 P.2d 1350].)