Opinion ID: 2633286
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Exclusion of Photograph Offered in Mitigation

Text: During the penalty phase, defendant offered three photographs as mitigating evidence: a photograph of defendant's home in Guatemala and his three children; a photograph of his three children at the time of trial; and a photograph of his horse and three children at the time they lived with defendant in Guatemala. Counsel argued the photograph of the horse and defendant's children was relevant to show defendant and his family as they lived in Guatemala. He added the photograph also was relevant to show the horse defendant rode when he gave medical attention to people in the village. The trial court admitted the photograph of defendant's children at their home in Guatemala and the photograph of the children at the time of defendant's trial but excluded the photograph of defendant's horse and children as cumulative. Defendant contends the court erred in excluding the photograph of his horse. The trial court determines relevancy of mitigating evidence and retains discretion to exclude evidence whose probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will create substantial danger of confusing the issues or misleading the jury. ( People v. Cain, supra, 10 Cal.4th at p. 64, 40 Cal. Rptr.2d 481, 892 P.2d 1224; People v. Fauber (1992) 2 Cal.4th 792, 856, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 24, 831 P.2d 249.) Here, the trial court admitted a photograph depicting defendant's home in Guatemala and his three children. The jury heard testimony from defendant's wife that he and she raised all three children together and that defendant would ride his horse to deliver medications to the local village people. Accordingly, we conclude the trial court did not err in finding the photograph of defendant with his horse irrelevant or in excluding it under Evidence Code section 352.