Opinion ID: 1695575
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the trial court manifestly erred in refusing to allow into evidence the video tape, without audio, of wlox-tv made within 24 hours of the accident in question, depicting the condition of the road and road shoulder at the site of the accident in question.

Text: The Couchs argue that the trial judge erred by refusing to admit into evidence a video tape of the scene produced by a local TV station. The video tape in question, which was taken one day after the accident, depicts the curve in which Burns was travelling and the drop-off in the shoulder of the road. The video tape was offered into evidence with the audio portion excluded to enable the jury to better understand the line of sight available to the Couchs when travelling west on Popps Ferry Road. Although the judge allowed certain still shots from the video, the remainder of the video was excluded based on a ruling that its prejudicial effect on the jury would outweigh its probative value. Motion pictures are admissible into evidence in Mississippi. Barham v. Nowell, 243 Miss. 441, 138 So.2d 493 (1962); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Wright, 190 Miss. 53, 199 So. 289 (1940). The introduction of photographs and motion pictures is a matter for the sound discretion of the trial court and that court is afforded wide latitude in exercising this discretion. Butler v. Chrestman, 264 So.2d 812, 816 (Miss. 1972), quoting Niles v. Sanders, 218 So.2d 428 (Miss. 1969); Marr v. Nichols, 208 So.2d 770 (Miss. 1968). This Court, in Jesco, Inc. v. Shannon, 451 So.2d 694, 702 (Miss. 1984), cautioned trial judges to preview such evidence to determine its probative value as against its prejudicial effects upon a jury. Accordingly, we caution the trial judge to take a fresh look at the video in question to determine whether certain portions are relevant and to eliminate only those having a prejudicial effect on the jury. Based on the foregoing, the judgment of the lower court is reversed and the case is remanded to the Harrison County Circuit Court for additional proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART. HAWKINS, C.J., PRATHER, P.J., and SULLIVAN, PITTMAN, BANKS, McRAE, JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr. and SMITH, JJ., concur.