Opinion ID: 1288420
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: admission of photographs of injuries sustained by the victim in the earlier aggravated battery

Text: The defendant contends that the district court erred in admitting photographs taken by police of the injuries suffered by Jackson in the earlier aggravated battery. He argues that the photographs were more prejudicial than probative. The admission of photographs in a homicide case is a matter within the trial court's discretion and will not be disturbed absent a showing of abuse of that discretion. State v. Stone, 253 Kan. 105, 111, 853 P.2d 662 (1993). Judicial discretion is abused when no reasonable person would take the view of the trial court. State v. Wagner, 248 Kan. 240, 242, 807 P.2d 139 (1991). The defendant does not contend that the photographs were inadmissible but rather that their prejudicial nature outweighed what little relevance they had. However, the photographs were relevant in that they served to corroborate the testimony of witnesses as to earlier injuries suffered by Jackson at the hands of the defendant and the violent discord present in the relationship as well as bearing on the defendant's state of mind and intent. Furthermore, the photographs, although they show the cuts received by Jackson, are not gruesome, nor are they unduly prejudicial. Under these circumstances, the district court's determination that the photographs were more probative than prejudicial is not a decision with which no reasonable person would agree. The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photographs.