Opinion ID: 2089063
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of In Life Photographs

Text: In Grandison v. State, 305 Md. 685, 506 A.2d 580, we applied the two-part test for the admissibility of photographic evidence to in life photographs. Id. at 729-30, 506 A.2d at 602. The defendant, Anthony Grandison, contracted to have David and Cheryl Piechowicz murdered to prevent them from testifying against him in a pending narcotics proceeding. Id. at 697, 506 A.2d at 585-86. Rather than killing the two intended victims, however, the assailant mistakenly killed Cheryl Piechowicz's sister, Susan Kennedy. Id., 506 A.2d at 586. We determined that the in life photograph of Susan Kennedy was relevant to the issue of her resemblance to her sister. Id. at 729, 506 A.2d at 602. We upheld the admission of the photograph, concluding that there was no arbitrariness in the trial court's decision. Id., 506 A.2d at 602. The Fourth Circuit later considered the same issue in United States v. Grandison, 780 F.2d 425 (4th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 495 U.S. 934, 110 S.Ct. 2178, 109 L.Ed.2d 507 (1990). With regard to the relevance of the in life photographs, the court stated: Objections [to the in life photographs] were lodged on grounds of non-relevance.... [W]e perceive no strength in the argument, because [the victims] were central figures in the crimes that had been charged. They had to be identified. Id. at 429. The majority of appellate courts in other jurisdictions that have considered the admissibility of in life photographs have also upheld their admission. Annot., Homicide: Identification of Victim, 86 A.L.R.2d 722, 739 (1962). See also Drane v. State, 265 Ga. 255, 455 S.E.2d 27 (1995); State v. Ash, 526 N.W.2d 473 (N.D. 1995); State v. Brett, 126 Wash.2d 136, 892 P.2d 29 (1995); State v. Mergenthaler, 263 Mont. 198, 868 P.2d 560 (1994); State v. Walker, 252 Kan. 279, 845 P.2d 1 (1993); State v. Williams, 313 Or. 19, 828 P.2d 1006 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 858, 113 S.Ct. 171, 121 L.Ed.2d 118 (1992); State v. Bertram, 591 A.2d 14 (R.I.1991); State v. Ryan, 226 Neb. 59, 409 N.W.2d 579 (1987); Com. v. Nadworny, 396 Mass. 342, 486 N.E.2d 675 (1985); State v. Aswegan, 331 N.W.2d 93 (Iowa 1983); State v. Brown, 306 N.C. 151, 293 S.E.2d 569 (1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1080, 103 S.Ct. 503, 74 L.Ed.2d 642 (1982); Burgess v. State, 339 So.2d 121 (Ala. 1976); People v. Sullivan, 97 Mich.App. 488, 296 N.W.2d 81 (1980), cert. denied, 308 N.W.2d 109 (1981). A number of these jurisdictions have adopted a two-pronged test for admissibility of in life photographs similar to our own standard. See, e.g., People v. Stevens, 76 N.Y.2d 833, 560 N.Y.S.2d 119, 120, 559 N.E.2d 1278, 1279 (1990); People v. Hendricks, 43 Cal.3d 584, 238 Cal.Rptr. 66, 71-72, 737 P.2d 1350, 1356 (1987). A minority of jurisdictions have taken the position that in life photographs are irrelevant and prejudicial, and therefore have concluded that use of in life photographs is disfavored. See, e.g., Com. v. Rivers, 537 Pa. 394, 644 A.2d 710, 716 (1994); Valdez v. State, 900 P.2d 363, 381 & n. 83 (Okl.Crim. App.1995). A few courts have articulated a higher standard for admission of photographic evidence; for example, Pennsylvania courts have suggested that if photographs are inflammatory, they must possess essential evidentiary value to be admissible. Com. v. McCutchen, 274 Pa.Super. 96, 417 A.2d 1270, 1272 (1979), vacated on other grounds, 499 Pa. 597, 454 A.2d 547 (1982) (essential evidentiary value standard upheld, but photographs excluded by trial court found to possess essential evidentiary value, although graphic). The rationale for this elevated standard with respect to photographs is that because they often merely repeat or restate evidence that has been presented in other forms, they do not justify any additional prejudice to the defendant. See Rivers, 644 A.2d at 717. We have previously rejected this reasoning and have declined to apply an elevated standard of admissibility to photographic evidence. Bedford, 317 Md. at 677, 566 A.2d at 120 (Bedford alleges that where a photograph has only minimal significance, and no essential evidentiary value, the trial judge should be more inclined to exclude it if it is inflammatory. Nonetheless, we have not adopted such a test and require only that the trial judge not abuse his discretion.). We have found no jurisdiction, however, that has adopted a per se rule barring the use of in life photographs. When appellate courts have disapproved the admission of in life photographs, they have generally either found that the photographs were irrelevant, or that their probative value in the particular case was outweighed by their prejudicial effect. See, e.g., Rivers, 644 A.2d at 716; Parker v. State, 292 Ark. 421, 731 S.W.2d 756, 763 (1987); Stevens, 560 N.Y.S.2d at 120, 559 N.E.2d at 1279; Boutwell v. State, 659 P.2d 322, 326 (Okl.Crim.App.1983). Furthermore, even those jurisdictions that have consistently criticized the use of in life photographs have upheld admission of the photographs where they were clearly relevant. See, e.g., Shelton v. State, 793 P.2d 866, 870 (Okl.Crim. App.1990). For example, although the Oklahoma courts have often expressed disapproval of in life photographs, see, e.g., Rawlings v. State, 740 P.2d 153, 162 (Okl.Crim.App. 1987), the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the admission of an in life photograph of a murder victim despite the defendant's offer to stipulate to identity based on the victim's dental X-rays. Shelton v. State, 793 P.2d at 870. The court upheld the admission because the photograph was necessary to support other testimony by people who had observed the victim with the attacker before the incident. Id. In addition, even where courts have disapproved the use of in life photographs, errors in admission have seldom been found prejudicial. See, e.g., Valdez, 900 P.2d at 381; Rivers, 644 A.2d at 716; People v. Cox, 53 Cal.3d 618, 280 Cal.Rptr. 692, 716, 809 P.2d 351, 375 (1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1062, 112 S.Ct. 945, 117 L.Ed.2d 114 (1992); Stevens, 560 N.Y.S.2d at 121, 559 N.E.2d at 1280.