Opinion ID: 162318
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admission of Photographs of the Victim

Text: 47 Mr. Willingham claims that the trial court improperly admitted twenty-two photographs of Mrs. Van Wey's body, which he contends were unduly prejudicial to the defense at both stages of trial. Where no particularized constitutional guarantees are directly implicated, such an evidentiary objection is cognizable on habeas only if the alleged error was so grossly prejudicial that it fatally infected the trial and denied the fundamental fairness that is the essence of due process. Fox v. Ward, 200 F.3d 1286, 1296 (10th Cir.) (quotation omitted), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 938, 121 S.Ct. 329, 148 L.Ed.2d 264 (2000). With this federal standard in mind, we conclude that the OCCA's resolution of this matter was not unreasonable and, therefore, Mr. Willingham is not entitled to relief under § 2254(d). See Thomas v. Gibson, 218 F.3d 1213, 1225 (10th Cir.2000). 48 On Mr. Willingham's direct appeal, the OCCA explained that [t]he test for admissibility of photographs is not whether they are gruesome or inflammatory, but whether their probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, and held that the victim photographs were properly admitted at the guilt phase for their relevance to the critical element of intent to kill and at the penalty phase for their relevance to the serious physical abuse requirement of the HAC aggravator. Willingham, 947 P.2d at 1083 (also holding photographs depicted sufficiently different aspects of victim's injuries to undercut any challenge on ground they were cumulative). The district court agreed that the photographs were properly admitted for these important purposes, and held that Mr. Willingham therefore could not demonstrate a due process violation warranting habeas relief. 49 Mr. Willingham's appellate argument on this issue fails to come to grips with the primary basis for the rulings of the district court and OCCA. He simply repeats his charge that the photographs are gruesome, without addressing their obvious facial relevance to critical elements of the State's case at both stages of trial. We note one additional point, for clarification. When a victim dies or loses consciousness early on in an assault, photographs of all of her injuries might involve irrelevant and/or unduly prejudicial material at the penalty phase, since the HAC aggravator focuses on the conscious suffering of the victim. Cf. Powell v. State, 906 P.2d 765, 780 (Okla.Crim.App.1995) (holding admission of victim photographs during penalty phase came very close to reversible error for just this reason). Here, however, there is no such concern; Mr. Willingham's own testimony described Mrs. Van Wey as conscious and struggling to defend herself throughout the fatal beating.