Opinion ID: 1858107
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Gruesome Photographs/Supplemental Assignment of Error 7

Text: With this assignment, defendant argues the trial court erred in allowing the State to admit numerous, gruesome photographs of the victims which had no probative value and prejudiced the appellant. Particularly, defendant asserts the gruesome nature and numerosity of the photos of both victims overwhelmed the jurors' reason and led them to convict and impose a death sentence without reasoned detachment. However, the State is entitled to the moral force of its evidence, and post-mortem photographs of murder victims are admissible to prove corpus delicti, to corroborate other evidence establishing cause of death and location and placement of wounds, and to provide positive identification of the victim. State v. Koon, 96-1208, p. 18 (La.5/20/97), 704 So.2d 756; State v. Maxie, 93-2158, p. 11, n. 8 (La.4/10/95), 653 So.2d 526, 532, n. 8. Photograph evidence is properly admitted unless it is so gruesome that it overwhelms jurors' reason and leads them to convict without sufficient other evidence, i.e. when the prejudicial effect of the photographs substantially outweighs their probative value. Koon, Id.; State v. Martin, 93-0285, p. 12-13 (La.10/17/94), 645 So.2d 190, 197-98, cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1105, 115 S.Ct. 2252, 132 L.Ed.2d 260 (1995). A review of the exhibits reveals the State introduced 9 crime scene and 7 autopsy photos of Morris Prestenback and 7 crime scene and 4 autopsy photos of Kazuko Prestenback. Any excessiveness in the number of photographs introduced is solely a result of the numerosity and multiple locations of the wounds inflicted on Morris and Kazuko Prestenback. The State is entitled to use photographs to show the location and nature of all the victim's wounds. The autopsy photos were particularly necessary to show the numerous stab wounds on the victims. The photos of the location of Mr. Prestenback's body were relevant to convey to the jury how the attack occurred, especially in light of defendant's implication he did not attack Morris Prestenback while he was sleeping but in response to aggression by Prestenback. The photos of the location of Mrs. Prestenback's body, in her bed, were relevant to the State to show she posed no harm to defendant which would justify his attack on her, certainly a factor relevant in the penalty phase. Close-ups of the wounds to Morris Prestenback, who was stabbed and cut so many times in and about the face that the pathologist could not estimate the number, not to mention the numerous stabs to his chest area, were necessary for the State to prove the aggravating circumstance that the murder was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner. The trial court did not err in introducing these photographs as their probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect they may have had on the jury. This assignment lacks merit.