Opinion ID: 1239150
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Admission of police photographer's testimony

Text: (29a) Defendant contends that the trial court erroneously admitted the testimony of police photographer Steven Ohanesian, thereby depriving defendant of his constitutional rights to a fair trial and to a reliable verdict. At the time the prosecution sought to introduce the testimony of this witness, defense counsel objected on the ground that the prosecution instead had to present the testimony of an expert on astronomy. The trial court determined that such expert testimony was not required. Thereafter, Ohanesian testified that on July 10, 1987, he had driven to the bowl area in the desert and taken a series of photographs from the same viewpoint as that used to take the photographs of Shari at that location. Ohanesian testified that the photographs he had taken between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. most closely matched the shadows and other features of defendant's photographs. Defendant asserts that this testimony should have been excluded because the prosecutor failed to establish a foundation that the astronomical and weather conditions on July 10, 1987, were nearly identical to those existing on July 4, 1984. Defendant also contends that the prosecutor failed to establish the conditions present and the photographic methods used by defendant on July 4, 1984. (30) It is settled that a trial court has discretion to admit experimental evidence. The proponent of such evidence bears the burden of production and proof on the question whether such evidence rests upon an adequate foundation. Admission of such evidence depends upon proof of the following foundational items: (1) [t]he experiment must be relevant; (2) it must have been conducted under at least substantially similar, although not necessarily absolutely identical, conditions as those of the actual occurrence; (3) the qualifications of the individual testifying concerning the experimentation must be demonstrated with some particularity; and (4) evidence of the experiment will not consume undue time, confuse the issues, or mislead the jury. ( People v. Turner (1994) 8 Cal.4th 137, 198 [32 Cal. Rptr.2d 762, 878 P.2d 521]; People v. Bonin (1989) 47 Cal.3d 808, 847 [254 Cal. Rptr. 298, 765 P.2d 460].) (29b) The trial court properly determined that these foundational considerations were established in the present case. First, the experimental evidence was relevant because the jury, afforded the opportunity to compare defendant's photographs of Shari with those subsequently taken at the same site at nearly the same time of year, was assisted in determining the approximate time that Shari still was alive in the desert and in determining whether that approximate time was consistent with other evidence tending to establish the time of her death. The photographic evidence establishing the approximate time of day also was relevant to assess the veracity of defendant's statements concerning the photographs he had taken. Second, the police photographs were produced under substantially similar conditions as those existing when defendant had taken his photographs. The police photographer stood at the same location as that used by defendant, at approximately the same time of day, and employed similar photographic equipment. Third, Ohanesian's qualifications as a photographer clearly were established. Fourth, Ohanesian's testimony was quite brief and did not confuse or mislead the jury. In addition, upon request of defense counsel, the trial court instructed the jury that in considering the weight of this testimony, the jury was to consider whether the witness possessed sufficient professional qualifications to conduct the demonstration and to evaluate and describe its results, and whether the demonstration was conducted under circumstances substantially similar to those present at the time defendant took his photographs. Thus, the jury was made aware of the inherent limitations of such evidence. Defendant has cited no California decision disapproving the admission of comparable demonstration evidence. He relies upon decisions from other jurisdictions, but these are readily distinguished. In Jones v. Talbot (1964) 87 Idaho 498 [394 P.2d 316, 319], the court properly held inadmissible certain photographs taken of the site of a collision, because several witnesses had testified that conditions at the site had altered since the time of the collision. In the present case, the only conditions being compared were the positions of shadows upon human subjects at certain times of day from several fixed vantage points at the same time of year. Defendant, by merely observing that the photographs were taken on a different day and may have been taken using different camera filters or other components, has failed to demonstrate how conditions were so far different at the time the police photographer took the photographs as to preclude the admission of this evidence. In United States v. Tranowski (7th Cir.1981) 659 F.2d 750, 752-757, the court held inadmissible the proffered testimony of an astronomer purporting to ascertain from a sun chart the specific date on which a photograph had been taken, on the grounds that the chart had not been determined to be accurate and was not generally relied upon by experts, and the technology relied upon had not gained general scientific acceptance. In the present case, by contrast, the photographer merely offered photographs and explained the experiment in duplicating the appearance of shadows on a subject, using common photographic equipment, in light of the commonly understood phenomenon that the sun casts shadows of a similar length at a particular time of day at a particular time of year. The trial court did not err in admitting the evidence.