Opinion ID: 1721193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: alleged photograph error

Text: Appellant contends that the trial court erred in permitting the State, over Appellant's specific objection, to use a police photograph of him which served, with the testimony on same, only to apprise the jury of his prior criminal record when the photograph was irrelevant to any issue at the trial and prejudiced the jury. We note what we said on this in the first appeal (351 S.W.2d l. c. 778, 780) and now review the record further. While Appellant's motion for new trial states that the photograph was obviously a police photograph, the record does not so show. For all the record indicates, it could have been any kind of photograph. None of the examination of Bass indicated that defendant had been charged with or convicted of any other crime. The jury never saw the photograph, Appellant in his reply brief pro se concedes that the jury did not see the photo and asserts merely that the jury heard what was said. The photo was not offered or received in evidence. The trial judge no doubt considered the photograph testimony was not prejudicial. No abuse of his discretion appears from the record. We will not interfere with it. What the jury might have gathered about the inherent nature of the photo from the proceedings mentioned is not shown by the record to have prejudiced Appellant. See: State v. Daegele, Mo., 302 S.W.2d 20, 24, where defendant alleged error because of the State's opening statement that three witnesses had identified pictures of the defendant taken from police files, which this court considered as improper, but held the trial court did not err in failing to discharge the jury. There was no indication (except from the fact that Officer Reddick had it along with other photos) that the photograph was of a person convicted of a crime. Compare State v. Rima, Mo., 395 S.W.2d 102, 104-105, which distinguished State v. Baldwin, 317 Mo. 759, 297 S.W. 10, where testimony showed the photograph was from the Bertillion room in which pictures of persons convicted of a felony were kept. See also State v. Camper, Mo., 391 S.W.2d 926, 928, where this court in a case involving a similar situation held that the trial court did not err in refusing to declare a mistrial. Appellant cites State v. Johnson, Mo., 347 S.W.2d 220, and State v. Dees, Mo., 276 S.W.2d 201, for the rule that proof of separate and distinct crimes is not admissible but recognizes that such proof is admissible (under an exception to the rule) to establish identity (State v. Anderson, Mo., 384 S.W.2d 591). Appellant urges, however, that the exception does not apply if identification is established by other evidence and is no longer an issue, citing State v. Holmes, Mo., 389 S.W.2d 30, 33, which states: It is not proper to admit details of separate and distinct crimes for the purpose of showing identity. Even if the photo were a police photo and the jury gathered this, the issue of identity was still in the case and the out-of-court photograph identification was a proper part of the in-court identification. The jury did not hear evidence on any details of any other crime or even any evidence indicating that Appellant had been even charged with a crime. The trial court properly overruled defendant's objection at the time the State's attorney, Cahill, asked the reporter to identify the photograph. When Cahill then asked if it was a photograph like the one previously shown to Bass, defendant's attorney, Noble, did not object but later cross-examined Bass three times on it as it might bear solely on identification. The trial court could reasonably have believed that the jury would consider the entire testimony as dealing solely with the issue of identification and not with evidence of another crime. The trial court did not err in failing, on its own motion, to restrict Cahill's further direct examination or to instruct the jury as to the limited purpose of the testimony as to the photograph or in any other respect. We view the incident as relatively minor in nature and one which did not prejudice the jury. The point is ruled against Appellant. We adopt our opinion on the first direct appeal (351 S.W.2d 775) with respect to Appellant's contentions not specifically covered above. We have reviewed and considered the files, records and briefs in both prior appeals to this court, and the additional briefs filed herein. We have examined the record as required by Rule 28.02 and find no error respecting the sufficiency of the indictment, verdict, judgment, and sentence. The judgment is affirmed. EAGER, P. J., and MURPHY, Special Judge, concur.