Opinion ID: 1903593
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the trial court erred in admitting photographs of the victim into evidence.

Text: ¶ 19. The admissibility of photographs rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Griffin v. State, 557 So.2d 542, 549 (Miss.1990). Photographs have evidentiary value where they: 1) aid in describing the circumstances of the killing and the corpus delicti; 2) where they describe the location of the body and cause of death; and 3) where they supplement or clarify witness testimony. Westbrook v. State, 658 So.2d 847, 849 (Miss.1995)(citing Ashley v. State, 423 So.2d 1311 (Miss. 1982); Hughes v. State, 401 So.2d 1100 (Miss.1981); Williams v. State, 354 So.2d 266 (Miss.1978)). ¶ 20. In addition to any probative value the photographs offered from showing the crime scene and the cause of death, the photographs at issue here were clearly probative because they corroborated Pruitt's confession. In his confession to Detective Ruspoli, Pruitt stated that he arranged Easterling's clothing after killing her in order to suggest rape and thereby throw police off his trail. Since the photographs did have probative value, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting them into evidence.