Opinion ID: 2508322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of the Photograph of Davis

Text: At trial, defendant objected to People's exhibit No. 3D, a photograph depicting Davis on a gurney in the hospital after defendant had shot him, as irrelevant or, if relevant, unduly prejudicial under Evidence Code section 352. The trial court overruled the objection and admitted the photograph. Defendant contends that the photograph was irrelevant because he did not dispute that Davis was shot in the mouth, and that the trial court should have excluded it under Evidence Code section 352 because it was gruesome and cumulative to testimony from Davis and several police officers about the nature of the injury. As we shall explain, the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photograph. The admissibility of photographs is governed by the same rules of evidence used to determine the admissibility of evidence generally. (Evid.Code, §§ 210, 350; see also People v. Heard (2003) 31 Cal.4th 946, 972-973, 4 Cal. Rptr.3d 131, 75 P.3d 53; People v. Lewis, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 641, 106 Cal. Rptr.2d 629, 22 P.3d 392.) The trial court has broad discretion in deciding the relevancy of such evidence. ( People v. Lewis, supra, at p. 641, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 629, 22 P.3d 392.) The photograph showing Davis on a gurney in the hospital showed that Davis had been shot in the head. This corroborated Davis's testimony that defendant tried to kill him. Evidence that defendant tried to kill Davis, in turn, tended to show that defendant had killed Robinson and Thompson, based on the prosecution's theory that defendant tried to kill Davis because he feared that Davis would reveal defendant's identity as the killer of Robinson and Thompson to the police. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted the photograph as evidence relevant to prove defendant's guilt of the murders with which he was charged, and that was not merely cumulative of the testimony of Davis and the officers who observed Davis's wound. (See People v. Smithey (1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 973-974, 86 Cal. Rptr.2d 243, 978 P.2d 1171.) We also reject defendant's argument that the trial court erred in not excluding it as more prejudicial than probative under Evidence Code section 352. The court's exercise of its discretion to admit assertedly gruesome or inflammatory evidence will not be disturbed on appeal unless the probative value of the evidence clearly is outweighed by its prejudicial effect. ( People v. Heard, supra, 31 Cal.4th at pp. 975-976, 4 Cal.Rptr.3d 131, 75 P.3d 53.) Having reviewed the photograph, we are satisfied that it is not unduly gruesome or inflammatory, and its admission did not violate state evidentiary law. (See People v. Lewis, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 642, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 629, 22 P.3d 392.)