Opinion ID: 1183627
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Admission of Photographs

Text: The defendant contends that photographs which were made in the course of the autopsy were shocking and gruesome and should not have been admitted into evidence. Some of the photographs were not objected to at the time of trial, and the remaining photographs were admitted over the defendant's objection that they were irrelevant. Our review is, therefore, limited to the issue of the relevancy of the photographs. See People v. Jones, 184 Colo. 96, 518 P.2d 819 (1974). The photographs in issue depicted different views of the victim's head, which was covered on one side with blood and had a swelling of the left upper eyelid. One of the photographs showed that the deceased's hands were tied behind her back. Others showed the swelling and hemorrhage that occurred prior to death. The photographs were admissible to illustrate and clarify the testimony of the pathologist as to the nature and causation of the decedent's wounds. See People v. Lowe, 184 Colo. 182, 519 P.2d 344 (1974). The photographs in issue were relevant and admissible and were tied to facts which directly related to the circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime. See People v. Hosier, supra . This is not a case where the photographs serve only to incite the jurors to passion, prejudice, vengeance, hatred, [and] disgust . . .. Compare Archina v. People, 135 Colo. 8, 307 P.2d 1083 (1957). Given the testimony of the pathologist to which they related, the photographs were not sufficiently repetitive to warrant reversal on that basis alone. See Hampton v. People, supra ; Potts v. People, 114 Colo. 253, 158 P.2d 739 (1945). The remaining errors asserted by the defendant are without merit, and we, therefore, affirm.