Opinion ID: 1880670
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: issue 12. autopsy photos

Text: Boyd next asserts that the trial court erred in admitting autopsy photographs of the victim during the penalty phase of trial. The photographs challenged were: (1) Exhibit 2, which showed Dacosta's right forearm and the defensive wounds inflicted by the screwdriver; (2) Exhibit 5, which showed the thirty-six stab wounds on her chest; (3) Exhibit 6, which was a close-up of the stab wounds; and (4) Exhibit 7, which showed the fatal head wound. The trial court admitted the photographs because they were relevant in the penalty phase to the HAC factor and supplemented the medical examiner's testimony. We will not disturb a trial court's ruling on the admissibility of a photograph absent a clear abuse of discretion. Mansfield v. State, 758 So.2d 636, 648 (Fla.2000). Photographic evidence is admissible if it is relevant to a material fact in dispute. Thus, autopsy photographs, even when difficult to view, are admissible to the extent that they fairly and accurately establish a material fact and are not unduly prejudicial. Rose v. State, 787 So.2d 786, 794 (Fla.2001). This Court has upheld the admission of photos to demonstrate the HAC factor during the penalty phase. See id. at 795; Mansfield, 758 So.2d at 648. This Court has also repeatedly upheld the admission of photographs when they are necessary to explain a medical examiners testimony, the manner of death, or the location of the wounds. See, e.g., Davis v. State, 859 So.2d 465, 477 (Fla.2003); Floyd v. State, 808 So.2d 175, 184 (Fla.2002); Pope v. State, 679 So.2d 710, 713-14 (Fla.1996). Exhibits 2, 5, and 6 were properly admitted. None of these exhibits were unduly prejudicial, and thus the trial court did not err in admitting them. The admissibility of Exhibit 7 (showing the fatal head wound, as well as the top portion of the victim's body) is a closer call. The photograph is somewhat gruesome, because decomposition of the body had begun, resulting in the victim's eyes bulging significantly. Also, fragments of the brain are visible. However, we have affirmed the admissibility of even gruesome photographs when they are independently relevant or corroborative of other evidence. Czubak v. State, 570 So.2d 925, 928 (Fla. 1990). Because this photograph was the only depiction of the manner of death, assisted the medical examiner in his testimony, and was relevant to the HAC aggravating factor, we hold that the trial court did not err in admitting the photo. See Harris v. State, 843 So.2d 856, 865 (Fla. 2003) (admission of crime scene photographs of the decomposed body of the victim were relevant, since they demonstrated the manner of death and assisted officer in testimony at trial about the crime scene). The trial judge carefully considered the relevance of each photo before admitting it and even sustained objections to another photograph in order to ensure that the evidence was not repetitious. See Floyd v. State, 808 So.2d 175, 184 (Fla.2002).