Opinion ID: 2035676
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Photographic Array Was Properly Admitted

Text: James contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the photographic array shown to Worek because the photographs were mug shots which suggested to the jury that the individuals had a criminal record. This Court has stated that the danger in admitting mug shots is that they show the well-known frontal and profile view of a person with prison numbers and legend thereon referring to arrests or convictions [and] that there is an implication that the pictures were taken some time in the past when the defendant was charged or convicted of past crimes. Teague v. State (1978), 269 Ind. 103, 112, 379 N.E.2d 418, 422. Similarly, in Strong v. State (1982), Ind., 435 N.E.2d 969, an array of ten mug shot photographs from which the victim selected the defendant was passed to the jury. Small white cards had been stapled over the bottom of each photograph in an attempt to hide an identifying chain and plate. This Court held that the admission of the photographs was erroneous because the prejudicial portions of the photographs had been inadequately covered and any juror could have glanced under the card and thereby learned that the defendant had been arrested for a prior armed robbery. Id. at 972. However, the admission of mug shots is not always reversible error. In Hunter v. State (1986), Ind., 492 N.E.2d 1067, 1070, the exhibits at issue were frontal photographs of the defendant, cropped off at the shoulders, with no prison numbers or legends visible. This Court held that admission of those photographs was not error. Id. Similarly, in Head v. State, 443 N.E.2d 44, 58, use of such photographs was approved where the State had securely covered the law enforcement inscription at the bottom of the picture, there was no evidence of prior criminal activity, the photograph included only a frontal view of the defendant from his shoulders upward, without a companion profile shot, and no chain or other police identification plate was visible. James argues that he was prejudiced because information relating to criminal history appeared on the back of the photographs. We note first that James made no objection to the information on the back of the photographs at trial, thus raising the question of whether this objection has been waived. See Ingram v. State (1989), Ind., 547 N.E.2d 823, 829. Assuming there has been no waiver, prior decisions make clear that the prejudice to be avoided is the suggestion that the defendant has a criminal history. See Menifee v. State (1987), Ind., 512 N.E.2d 142, 144; Head, 443 N.E.2d at 57. In James' case, the back of his photograph contains the following: Victor, Victory, B, M, 4622, FTA, and 9, followed by a hyphen and what appears to be the left half of a zero. We find no prejudicial information on the back of James' photograph. Even if, as James urges, FTA stands for failure to appear and, therefore, connotes some type of criminal history, it is unlikely that jurors would recognize this abbreviation. In short, we find nothing visible to the jury in the exhibit that would inform them of a prior criminal record.