Opinion ID: 2614001
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of photographs of victims

Text: Defendant contends the trial court erred in admitting into evidence 24 photographs (22 of which were enlarged to 8 inches by 10 inches) of the bodies of Katherine and William Chiapella. The photographs include views of the victims' bodies at the respective locations they were discovered, their bludgeoned faces and heads, Katherine's partially unclothed body with a knife protruding from it and her purse with its contents spilled out nearby, William's body covered by blood-soaked clothes, William's body with the knife recovered from inside it held next to the body, and views of tightly bound wrists and blackened fingernails. Several photographs taken prior to autopsy show portions of the unclad bodies with wounds that had been cleansed, and two black and white autopsy photographs depict traumatic head injuries. The defense moved in limine to exclude these photographs on grounds of their lack of relevance, cumulative character, and prejudicial effect. (Evid. Code, §§ 350, 352.) The trial court, hearing defense arguments with respect to each of the photographs, considered these three bases for objection as to each photograph and overruled each objection. Later during trial, after argument by counsel and comment by the court, the court admitted the 24 photographs.
In determining the admissibility of the photographic evidence, we apply well-established rules. (17) Only relevant evidence is admissible (Evid. Code, § 350; People v. Garceau, supra, 6 Cal.4th 140, 176-177; People v. Babbitt (1988) 45 Cal.3d 660, 681 [248 Cal. Rptr. 69, 755 P.2d 253]), and, except as otherwise provided by statute, all relevant evidence is admissible (Evid. Code, § 351; see also Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (d).) Relevant evidence, defined in Evidence Code section 210 as evidence `having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action,' tends `logically, naturally, and by reasonable inference' to establish material facts such as identity, intent, or motive. [Citations.] ( People v. Garceau, supra, 6 Cal.4th 140, 177.) The trial court has broad discretion in determining the relevance of evidence ( ibid. ; People v. Babbitt, supra, 45 Cal.3d 660, 681), but lacks discretion to admit irrelevant evidence. ( Ibid. ; People v. Burgener (1986) 41 Cal.3d 505, 527 [224 Cal. Rptr. 112, 714 P.2d 1251].) (18) Defendant contends the photographs of the victims were wholly irrelevant because they were probative only of matters that were not in dispute. (See People v. Anderson (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1137 [240 Cal. Rptr. 585, 742 P.2d 1306].) The circumstance that defendant did not contest the testimony of the medical examiner and others who located and examined the bodies, however, did not render the photographs irrelevant; rather, the photographic exhibits served to clarify that testimony. ( People v. Thomas (1992) 2 Cal.4th 489, 524 [7 Cal. Rptr.2d 199, 828 P.2d 101].) The prosecution tried the first degree murder charges on the theories that the murders were premeditated or committed in the course of a robbery, and that the murder of William involved torture. The photographs depicting the various knife wounds and blunt trauma to the bodies were relevant to establish the manner in which the victims were killed, including the nature and placement of the victims' wounds. (See People v. Wilson (1992) 3 Cal.4th 926, 938 [13 Cal. Rptr.2d 259, 838 P.2d 1212]; People v. Pride, supra, 3 Cal.4th 195, 243; People v. Anderson, supra, 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1137.) The photographs of the location and condition of the bodies, including the manner in which the victims were bound and gagged, also were relevant to the issue of premeditation and deliberation. ( People v. Garceau, supra, 6 Cal.4th 140, 180-181; People v. Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th 629, 660; People v. Hendricks (1987) 43 Cal.3d 584, 594 [238 Cal. Rptr. 66, 737 P.2d 1350].) In addition, the nature of the nonfatal wounds inflicted upon William, as well as his facial expression, as shown in the photographs, were relevant to demonstrate the perpetrator's intent to cause the cruel suffering necessary to establish that the murder involved torture. (See People v. Raley, supra, 2 Cal.4th 870, 896-897.) The prosecutor `was not obliged to prove these details solely from the testimony of live witnesses' [citation] or to accept antiseptic stipulations in lieu of photographic evidence. `[T]he jury was entitled to see how the physical details of the scene and the bod[ies] supported the prosecution theory of [first degree murder].' ( People v. Pride, supra, 3 Cal.4th 195, 243.) For the same reason, the evidence thereby provided was relevant as to aggravation of the crimes and the appropriate penalty. ( People v. Cox (1991) 53 Cal.3d 618, 666 [280 Cal. Rptr. 692, 809 P.2d 351]; People v. Sanders, supra, 51 Cal.3d 471, 514.)

(19a) Defendant contends that even if these photographs were relevant, the trial court committed reversible error in failing to exclude them as unduly prejudicial pursuant to Evidence Code section 352. [9] (20a) The admission of photographs of a victim lies within the broad discretion of the trial court when a claim is made that they are unduly gruesome or inflammatory. ( People v. Wilson, supra, 3 Cal.4th 926, 938; People v. Price (1991) 1 Cal.4th 324, 441 [3 Cal. Rptr.2d 106, 821 P.2d 610].] The court's exercise of that discretion will not be disturbed on appeal unless the probative value of the photographs clearly is outweighed by their prejudicial effect. ( People v. Wilson, supra, 3 Cal.4th 926, 938; People v. Mickey, supra, 54 Cal.3d 612, 655-656; People v. Sanders, supra, 51 Cal.3d 471, 514; People v. Mason, supra, 52 Cal.3d 909, 944.) (19b) The photographs showing the victims' wounds, including the two autopsy photographs, were highly probative as to the kind and degree of force used on the victims, indicative of malice, and, in William's case, to establish the intent to cause cruel suffering and the causation of extreme pain. The photographs depicting the thoroughness with which the victims had been bound were highly probative of, among other issues, the planning and deliberation with which the offenses were executed, because they tended to establish that defendant took great care to render his victims helpless, having brought from his own apartment a pillowcase from which he fashioned the bindings. Similarly, the photographs of the locations and positions of the bodies were highly demonstrative of premeditation and deliberation, establishing, for example, that defendant had separated the two victims and had moved William to the bedroom before killing him. The photographs helped illustrate and corroborate the testimony supplied by Dr. Hall, testimony that provided the factual bases upon which the prosecutor established the foregoing and other relevant matters. The probative value of the photographs was not clearly outweighed by their prejudicial effect. (20b) We have described the prejudice referred to in Evidence Code section 352 as characterizing evidence that uniquely tends to evoke an emotional bias against a party as an individual, while having only slight probative value with regard to the issues. ( People v. Garceau, supra, 6 Cal.4th 140, 178.) As we previously have observed, victim photographs and other graphic items of evidence in murder cases always are disturbing. ( People v. Hendricks, supra, 43 Cal.3d 584, 594.) (19c) Our independent review of the photographs convinces us that, although the photographs are unpleasant, they are not unduly shocking or inflammatory. Nor do they include multiple exposures of very similar views. ( People v. Wilson, supra, 3 Cal.4th 926, 938.) We conclude that, in admitting the photographs, the trial court did not abuse its discretion under Evidence Code section 352, because it reasonably could determine that the probative value of the photographs outweighed their potentially prejudicial effect. ( People v. Wilson, supra, 3 Cal.4th at p. 938; People v. Mickey, supra, 54 Cal.3d 612, 656; People v. Cox, supra, 53 Cal.3d 618, 666; People v. Benson (1990) 52 Cal.3d 754, 786 [276 Cal. Rptr. 827, 802 P.2d 330].) Defendant also contends the photographs merely were cumulative. We often have rejected the contention that photographs of a murder victim must be excluded as cumulative simply because testimony also has been introduced to prove the facts that the photographs are intended to establish. (See, e.g., People v. Wilson, supra, 3 Cal.4th 926, 938; People v. Raley, supra, 2 Cal.4th 870, 897; People v. Thomas, supra, 2 Cal.4th 489, 524; People v. Price, supra, 1 Cal.4th 324, 441.) [10]
(21) Defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to state on the record that, in admitting the photographs in question, it had weighed prejudice against probative value. When a defendant objects to evidence pursuant to Evidence Code section 352, the record must demonstrate affirmatively that the trial court did in fact weigh prejudice against probative value. ( People v. Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th 629, 660; People v. Mickey, supra, 54 Cal.3d 612, 656; People v. Edelbacher, supra, 47 Cal.3d 983, 1016-1017.) Nonetheless, `the trial judge need not expressly weigh prejudice against probative value  or even expressly state that he has done so.' ( People v. Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th 629, 660, italics added; People v. Mickey, supra, 54 Cal.3d 612, 656; see People v. Raley, supra, 2 Cal.4th 870, 897.) We do not perceive any error in the trial court's failure to provide detailed and precise descriptions of the weighing process it engaged in as to each photograph, pursuant to Evidence Code section 352. At the time of the pretrial motion in limine by which defendant sought to exclude this evidence, the prosecutor, as each photograph was reviewed, in most instances described what each depicted, frequently offering an explanation linking the subject of a particular photograph with relevant testimony. Prior to the trial court's in limine ruling, the prosecutor elaborated on the justifications for admitting the several categories of photographs. As noted above, the trial court heard defense argument as to each photograph, clearly was made aware of defendant's contentions as to the arguably prejudicial nature of each photograph, and knew it was required to engage in the weighing process required by Evidence Code section 352. (See People v. Garceau, supra, 6 Cal.4th 140, 178-179; People v. Raley, supra, 2 Cal.4th 870, 897; People v. Edelbacher, supra, 47 Cal.3d 983, 1016-1017.) During the course of the in limine review, the court also excluded a photograph that nearly duplicated another photograph depicting Katherine at the crime scene, ordered several other photographs withdrawn, ordered that the two autopsy photographs as well as the photograph of William's face be presented in black and white, and, for example, ordered that a photograph be cropped to illustrate wounds inflicted upon William's body without also showing his face. Several other photographs that apparently depicted the wounds in more graphic detail were withdrawn by the prosecutor. (See People v. Cox, supra, 53 Cal.3d 618, 666.) [11] In addition, at the time defendant moved to strike the photographs before their introduction into evidence, the trial court commented on five of the photographs, generally indicating why it had determined that these were not unduly prejudicial. In one instance, the court excluded a view of Katherine it earlier had allowed in evidence, and excluded several new photographs offered by the prosecutor, because they were duplicative of one of the photographs earlier submitted. The record, including the comments of the trial court, sufficiently establishes that the court weighed the probative value of each photograph against its potentially prejudicial effect, and considered and rejected the arguments of defense counsel. ( People v. Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th 629, 660; People v. Edelbacher, supra, 47 Cal.3d 983, 1016-1017.)