Opinion ID: 2072259
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Morgue Photographs

Text: Defendant contends that the admission of morgue photographs at the guilt phase of trial and at sentencing was prejudicial error. The photographs depicted the bodies of victims Johnnie Mae Dodds and Robert Stevens. Defendant claims that the photographs should not have been admitted at the guilt phase of defendant's trial because the cause of death or identity of the victims was not contested. This claim is without merit. When a defendant in a murder trial pleads not guilty, the prosecution is allowed to prove every element of the crime charged and every relevant fact, even if the defendant offers to stipulate to those same facts. ( People v. Henderson (1990), 142 Ill.2d 258, 319, 154 Ill.Dec. 785, 568 N.E.2d 1234.) Absent some other valid objection, therefore, the photos were admissible to establish the cause of death and the identity of the victims. Defendant next claims the photographs were unduly gruesome, and that they were likely to inflame the jurors' passions. If photographs are relevant to prove facts at issue, they are admissible and can be shown to the jury unless their nature is so prejudicial and so likely to inflame the jurors' passions that their probativeness is outweighed. ( Henderson, 142 Ill.2d at 319, 154 Ill.Dec. 785, 568 N.E.2d 1234.) It is the function of the trial court to weigh the probative value and potential prejudicial effect of photographic evidence, and the decision of the court will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. ( People v. Redd (1990), 135 Ill.2d 252, 320, 142 Ill.Dec. 802, 553 N.E.2d 316.) The trial judge ruled that the photographs were not unduly prejudicial and allowed their admission. The photographs are not included in the record, and therefore, we are unable to say that the trial judge abused his discretion in allowing their admission. Defendant also claims that it was error to allow the photographs to be resubmitted to the jury during the death penalty phase of his trial, and that defense counsel was ineffective under Strickland, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674, for failing to object to this resubmission. At the death penalty hearing, the nature of the crime and the character of the accused are considered. ( People v. Salazar (1988), 126 Ill.2d 424, 467, 129 Ill.Dec. 1, 535 N.E.2d 766.) Although the photographs may be disturbing, the jury had already seen the photographs during the guilt phase of trial and the photographs were an accurate representation of the result of defendant's crime. Allowing the jury to see how the victims died was relevant to the nature of the crime. (See People v. Franklin (1990), 135 Ill.2d 78, 110, 142 Ill.Dec. 152, 552 N.E.2d 743 (it was not error to submit, during the second phase of a death penalty hearing, three color photographs depicting the body of the victim at the murder scene because the photographs were probative of the violent nature of the criminal act and were corroborative of the trial testimony).) Because the photographs were properly resubmitted during defendant's death penalty hearing, it could not be ineffective assistance for defense counsel to fail to object to their resubmission.