Opinion ID: 1860859
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the trial court erred in admitting the autopsy photograph of brown's head.

Text: ¶ 67. Stevens also argues that the trial court erred in admitting an autopsy photograph of the entry wound to Brown's head after an autopsy incision had been made. The photograph was introduced during the testimony of Dr. Rodrigo Galvez, the forensic pathologist who performed Brown's autopsy. As this Court observed in rejecting this assignment of error in Stevens I, this Court has previously upheld the admission of similar and even more gruesome autopsy photographs to show the cause of death and/or the path of the fatal bullet. Stevens I, 717 So.2d at 313 (citing Davis v. State, 660 So.2d 1228, 1259 (Miss.1995); Mack v. State, 650 So.2d 1289, 1314 (Miss.1994); Noe v. State, 616 So.2d 298, 303 (Miss.1993); Alexander v. State, 610 So.2d 320, 338 (Miss.1992); Porter v. State, 564 So.2d 31, 35 (Miss. 1990)). ¶ 68. Stevens again asserts that because he had already stipulated to the cause of death and because other evidence established the path of the fatal bullet, the autopsy photograph was cumulative and of no evidentiary value. A review of our case law reveals that [t]he discretion of the trial judge `runs toward almost unlimited admissibility regardless of the gruesomeness, repetitiveness, and the extenuation of probative value.' Morris v. State, 777 So.2d 16, 27 (Miss. 2000) (quoting Hart v. State, 637 So.2d 1329, 1335 (Miss.1994)). We have stated that photographs contain probative value when they supplement or add clarity to witness' testimony. Gossett v. State, 660 So.2d 1285, 1292 (Miss.1995) (citing Hughes v. State, 401 So.2d 1100, 1106 (Miss.1981); Norman v. State, 385 So.2d 1298, 1303 (Miss.1980)). Rather than being merely cumulative, the autopsy photograph served to clarify the pathologist's clinical descriptions of the path of the fatal bullet. See Hart v. State, 637 So.2d 1329, 1336 (Miss.1994) (affirming admission where pathologist utilized like photos during testimony). See also Turner v. State, 573 So.2d 657, 667 (Miss.1990); Lanier v. State, 533 So.2d 473, 484 (Miss.1988) (both finding no abuse of discretion in admitting photographs used in conjunction with testimony by the physician who performed the autopsy). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photograph.