Opinion ID: 1793829
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Physical Evidence Linking Appellant to Ms. Bauer's Killing

Text: To connect appellant to the killing itself, the state offered the testimony of the police investigators, BCA analysts, and Dr. McGee who testified about the results of their investigations. During direct examination, the state asked Dr. McGee whether, in his opinion, the person who assaulted Mrs. Bauer intended merely to assault her or to kill her? Without any objection from defense counsel, Dr. McGee answered, I believe to kill her. The state then finished its examination of Dr. McGee without any objection from the defense. Only when testimony resumed after a three-day holiday weekend did defense counsel move the trial court to instruct the jury to disregard Dr. McGee's opinion concerning the intent of Ms. Bauer's assailant. The court denied the motion, ruling that the defense had waived its objection and that the testimony was harmless. The state also offered the testimony of Daniel Davis, M.D., a forensic pathologist employed as an Assistant Hennepin County Medical Examiner. Dr. Davis is also the owner and chief executive officer of Expert Digital Solutions, Inc., a private business which creates computer assisted graphics for trial use. Like Dr. McGee, Dr. Davis had compared the hinges on appellant's right leg braces to the autopsy photograph of the L-shaped abrasion on Ms. Bauer's left calf. Dr. Davis testified that comparisons of injuries on a deceased person to instrumentalities that may have caused those injuries were a routine part of what a medical examiner does and that scaled photographs of the injuries are frequently taken for this purpose. Dr. Davis testified that from his comparison of the leg brace to the autopsy photograph, he felt quite strongly that there was a similarity between the mechanism of the brace and the L-shaped abrasion. In connection with Dr. Davis' testimony, the state sought to introduce a computer-generated 26 inch by 36 inch poster made by Dr. Davis that showed a scaled comparison of the hinge on appellant's leg brace and the L-shaped abrasion on Ms. Bauer's calf. At a pretrial hearing, the defense objected to the use or admission of this poster, claiming that the state had failed to lay sufficient foundation to establish the poster's credibility and validity. At both the pre-trial hearing and at trial, Dr. Davis testified that he created the poster by scanning into his computer Dr. McGee's scaled autopsy photograph of the L-shaped abrasion and a similarly scaled photograph Dr. Davis had taken of the brace hinge. After scanning the images into his computer, Dr. Davis used Adobe Photoshop software, a desktop image-editing program, to digitally combine the two images. Dr. Davis first placed the image of the hinge directly over the image of the abrasion resulting in an exact overlay comparison. Dr. Davis then edited the resulting image by removing all portions of the brace other than the hinge. He also added rulers to the image to ensure that the scale of the image was accurate and placed lines on the image to indicate depth. Dr. Davis testified that he did not otherwise alter the original images. The state initially sought to introduce Dr. Davis' poster as substantive evidence that the hinge on appellant's leg brace was the cause of the L-shaped abrasion on Ms. Bauer's calf. After a pretrial hearing and subsequent memoranda on the issue, the district court ruled that the poster was admissible as substantive evidence. During Dr. Davis' testimony, the poster was shown to the jury and was extensively referred to by Dr. Davis in direct and cross-examination without objection. At the outset of his testimony, Dr. Davis testified that the purpose of the poster was to help people in the courtroom environment better understand the independent comparison of the leg brace and autopsy photograph he had made in Dr. McGee's office. On cross-examination, Dr. Davis testified that: [t]he poster itself is not the analysis. The poster is a demonstration of what I'm providing as my analysis of the photograph from the original three-dimensional object. The poster is intended to give others an idea using my explanation of the similarities I am referring to. Defense counsel extensively cross-examined Dr. Davis about the poster. Dr. Davis repeated in great detail the procedure he had used to create the poster. He reiterated that the poster was not a photograph of the brace hinge on the L-shaped abrasion, but was a computer-generated graphic that he had created by scanning two separate photographs into his computer and then digitally editing them using the Adobe Photoshop software. He again explained the specific changes he had made in the original photographic images. On redirect examination, the state offered the poster into evidence. No ruling on the poster was made at that time. However, in a subsequent hearing outside the presence of the jury, the trial court declined to receive the poster as substantive evidence. Citing Dr. Davis' testimony, the court ruled that the poster had been used only for illustrative purposes and therefore would not be allowed into the jury room during deliberations. The defense did not ask for a jury instruction on the illustrative nature of the poster, and no such instruction was given.