Opinion ID: 2425768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Viewing of Co-defendants Fingernails by Jury.

Text: The second issue which we shall address is the viewing of Dillard's fingernails (or more appropriately, the lack thereof) by the jury. Counsel for Dillard made a motion that both Dillard and Rogers exhibit their hands to the jury. The apparent reason for this had little to do with the defendants' hands and much more to do with their fingernails. According to the testimony of Dr. George Nichols, who performed the autopsy on Geordan, her body had abrasions consistent with having been made by fingernails. No other evidence was offered by the prosecution at trial regarding either the marks on Geordan's body or the fingernails of either defendant. No attempt to recover skin from Geordan which might have lodged under the fingernails of either defendant was made. In short, no evidence from the time of the crime exists to connect either defendant in any way to the fingernail marks on Geordan's body. Counsel for Dillard presumably sought to demonstrate to the jury that because Dillard's fingernails were chewed down to the quick he could not have been the attempted rapist and presumably not the murderer of Geordan. How the length of the defendants' fingernails one year after the offense could be probative of the length of the fingernails on the night of the offense is beyond the understanding of this Court. For several reasons which we shall outline below we find that this demonstration was improper and should not have been admitted into evidence by the trial court. As a threshold issue we must address the preservation of the objection to the admission of this evidence. Counsel for Rogers apparently withdrew their original objection to the presentation of the defendants' fingernails to the jury. Normally such an error would only become reviewable under the palpable error standard due to this waiver. However, unpreserved errors are reviewable in a case where the death penalty has been imposed. KRS 532.075(2); Baze v. Commonwealth, Ky., 965 S.W.2d 817 (1997). Ice v. Commonwealth, Ky., 667 S.W.2d 671, 674 (1984). The rationale for this rule is fairly straightforward. Death is unlike all other sanctions the Commonwealth is permitted to visit upon wrongdoers. Cosby v. Commonwealth, Ky., 776 S.W.2d 367 (1989) ( citing Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980)). Accordingly, the invocation of the death penalty requires greater caution than is normally necessary in the criminal justice process. First, the present state of a defendant's fingernails is not relevant to a proceeding regarding events which occurred a full year earlier. Second, even assuming arguendo that it was relevant, this evidence offered alone can only mislead and confuse the jury. Third, given the nature of a person's fingernails, subject to constant alteration, such evidence lacks the necessary integrity to be employed in the judicial process. We shall now address each of these areas in greater detail. Relevant evidence means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. KRE 401. In this case Dillard seeks to offer evidence of the state of his fingernails one year after the offense as being relevant to the crimes with which he is charged. We cannot find any fact of consequence that is made more or less probable based on this evidence. Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of undue prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. KRE 403. Assuming arguendo, that the state of the defendants' fingernails does have some remote relevance to this case, the danger of confusing the issues and/or misleading the jury is so great in this case as to outweigh whatever value this evidence has to offer. Under KRE 901(a), evidence must be adequately authenticated or identified. Part of the identification of evidence is a demonstration of its integrity, that it is in fact what its proponent claims it to be. A change that is material to the probativeness of the evidence is fatal. Robert G. Lawson, The Kentucky Evidence Law Handbook § 11.00 (3rd ed.1993). In this case, Dillard cannot possibly establish the necessary chain of custody to prove that the state of his fingernails, one year after the crimes, was the same as that on the night of the crimes. No information of any sort exists as to the state of Dillard's or Rogers' fingernails on the night of July 11, 1994. If it did, then there would have been no reason to show the jury Dillard's fingernails at trial since evidence of what they were at the time the crimes committed would exist. So basically, under any scenario, neither of the defendant's fingernails could be satisfactorily authenticated under KRE 901 and thus neither should have been shown to the jury. Given that there was very little evidence of any type connecting either defendant to Geordan's body, any evidence which was submitted to the jury along those lines would necessarily carry great weight. In this case, the jury was shown two defendants, one of whom functionally had no fingernails and one who did. The jury had already been informed that Geordan's body had abrasions on it consistent with fingernail marks. In such a case as this it was grossly improper to grant the motion to show the jury the defendants' fingernails. For the reasons we have stated above, such evidence did nothing to assist the trier of fact and certainly could only mislead the jury. While the general rule is that all relevant evidence is admissible, KRE 402, the evidence still must be relevant. We think that in a case with so little physical evidence pointing towards either defendant, the trial court should have at least required some showing and explanation of why the viewing of the defendants' fingernails should have been admissible. We conclude that admission of the evidence was improper and prejudicial. On a retrial of this case it shall not be admitted.