Opinion ID: 1878960
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the trial court committed reversible error by admitting photographs of liz dill's body.

Text: ¶ 33. The State admitted five photographs of Liz Dill's body over defense objections that the photographs were more prejudicial than probative. The trial court found the photographs to be somewhat gruesome but admitted them since they showed the extent of the wounds inflicted upon Liz Dill. Claiming that the photographs lacked evidentiary value and were inflammatory, Baldwin asserts that the trial court erred in allowing them to be admitted. The State contends that the photographs proved the location and condition of Liz Dill's body as well as the location and nature of her wounds. ¶ 34. The admissibility of photographs generally lies within the sound discretion of the trial court; and, absent an abuse of discretion, the court's decision will be upheld on appeal. Taylor v. State, 672 So.2d 1246, 1270 (Miss.1996). As to probative value versus prejudice, we held in Foster v. State, 508 So.2d at 1117-18, that because of the discretion vested in the trial court, the task of an appellate court reviewing a Rule 403 ruling is not to reengage in the Rule 403 balancing process. Rather, the task is simply to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in weighing the factors and admitting or excluding the evidence. Id. ¶ 35. According to our holding in Westbrook v. State, 658 So.2d 847, 849 (Miss.1995), photographs have evidentiary value where they aid in describing the circumstances of the killing and the corpus delicti, where they describe the location of the body and cause of death, and where they supplement or clarify witness testimony. Photographs of bodies are admissible where they are not so gruesome as to be overly prejudicial and inflammatory. Taylor, 672 So.2d at 1270 (quoting Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928, 934 (Miss.1986)). Only once has this Court found photographs to be so gruesome and inflammatory as to be inadmissible: a close-up photograph of a partly decomposed, maggotinfested skull. See McNeal v. State, 551 So.2d 151 (Miss.1989). The photographs in the present case do not rise to the level of inflammatory gruesomeness as those found in McNeal. ¶ 36. The photographs show the location of the body and the position and nature of the wounds. Such reasons for admission have previously satisfied this Court. See, e.g., Jackson v. State, 684 So.2d 1213, 1231 (Miss.1996); Westbrook, 658 So.2d at 849. Further, the photographs supplement and clarify witness testimony. Id. Jody Creel Newell, a forensic scientist who investigated the crime scene and examined Liz Dill's body, testified that when found, Liz Dill's body was lying on its back. The body was completely nude. The legs were spread shoulder width apart; the arms were above the head; the elbows were slightly bent; and the hands were slightly clinched. The face was missing, and the skin had been removed from the upper chest beneath the left breast, which was also missing. There was possible insect activity on the stomach and legs, and there were clumps of hair on the back of the skull and above the head. Bruises were found on the legs and ankles. The photographs support Newell's testimony. ¶ 37. The trial court allowed only eight of approximately one hundred photographs taken to be admitted. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the probative value of these photographs outweighed the prejudicial effect. Therefore, we find this assignment of error to be without merit.