Opinion ID: 1907107
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Gruesome and Prejudicial Photographs

Text: Defense counsel objected to the admission of certain photos of the victim by the prosecutor. The court allowed two of the photos into evidence. Counsel also objected to slides showing scenes from the Rosillo murder, and the trial court allowed three of these slides into evidence. The photos and slides in question were used by the medical examiner when discussing the victims' injuries and used to demonstrate similarities for purposes of Williams Rule evidence. Admission of photographic evidence is within the trial court's discretion, and a trial court's ruling will not be disturbed on appeal unless there is a showing of clear abuse. See Wilson v. State, 436 So.2d 908 (Fla.1983). Zack now argues appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue this issue on appeal. In order to obtain relief on this claim, appellate counsel would have had to show that the trial court erred in admitting the photographs and that the admission of the photos was so prejudicial that the defendant should have a new trial. Given the evidence in this case, including Zack's confession, the photos that were admitted did not contribute to the defendant's conviction. The test for admissibility of photographic evidence is relevancy rather than necessity. Pope v. State, 679 So.2d 710, 713 (Fla.1996); see also Provenzano v. Dugger, 561 So.2d 541, 549 (Fla. 1990) (Photographs must only be excluded when they demonstrate something so shocking that the risk of prejudice outweighs [their] relevancy.). There were only a limited number of photos that the medical examiner used during his testimony, and these photos were relevant to the issues addressed by the medical examiner. We conclude that appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise this non-meritorious issue on appeal.