Opinion ID: 2387577
Heading Depth: 7
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Christmas

Text: The jury viewed a four-minute, edited videotape depicting Officer Ganz celebrating Christmas, two days before his murder, with his family. It consisted primarily of Officer Ganz handing out presents to one of his sisters and some of his young nieces and nephews, who excitedly opened the gifts. At one point, Officer Ganz and his sister hug. This videotape depicted a rather ordinary eventa family holiday celebration. It is a brief home movie that depicted real events; it was not enhanced by narration, background music, or visual techniques designed to generate emotion; and it did not convey outrage or call for vengeance or sympathy. Like the videotape of the family trip to an amusement park we ruled admissible in People v. Dykes (2009) 46 Cal.4th 731, 783-785 [95 Cal.Rptr.3d 78, 209 P.3d 1], it humanized Officer Ganz and provided some sense of the loss suffered by his family, and it supplemented but did not duplicate their testimony. (Accord, State v. Gray (Mo. 1994) 887 S.W.2d 369, 389.) As such, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting it.