Opinion ID: 1058506
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: admission of photograph during penalty phase

Text: The defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting a photograph depicting a detailed and close-up view of the gruesome wounds to the victim's face during the penalty phase. Although the trial court refused to admit the photograph at the guilt phase, the court permitted its introduction at the penalty phase, advising the jury to consider it only for the purpose of determining whether the crime was heinous, atrocious, cruel, or constituted torture. Photographs depicting a victim's injuries have been held admissible to establish torture or serious physical abuse under aggravating circumstance (i)(5). See, e.g., State v. Smith, 893 S.W.2d 908, 924 (Tenn. 1994) (photographs depicting the victim's body, including one of the slash wounds to the neck, which was undeniably gruesome, were relevant to prove that the killing was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and were admissible for that purpose), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 829, 116 S.Ct. 99, 133 L.Ed.2d 53 (1995). The photograph in question accurately depicts the nature and severity of the injuries inflicted upon the victim. This evidence was relevant to the state's proof of the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating circumstance. The decision to admit this photograph was not an abuse of discretion.