Opinion ID: 483595
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Photograph of Decedent

Text: 32 The next ground for reversal advanced is the admission of a photograph of Pamonicutt's corpse. Hillsberg did not object to admission of the photograph, so the plain error standard applies here. Hillsberg contends that the photograph was unnecessary cumulative evidence and served only to coagulate prejudice against him. The photograph was cumulative, in that it was uncontroverted that Pamonicutt died from a bullet fired from Hillsberg's gun at close range. But the wound and powder burns on the victim's face, apparent in the photograph, served to give the jury a stronger indication of just where the gun was when it was fired than the uncertain testimony from a number of witnesses, some of whom had been in various states of inebriation at the time of the shooting. The trial court did not commit plain error in admitting the photograph.