Opinion ID: 1351145
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Photographs of remains of Aguilar and Mochel

Text: (60) Defendant objected under Evidence Code section 352 to three photographs at the penalty trial. The first two concerned the Mochel murder. One photo shows a roadway, and demonstrates the difficulty of seeing the victim's remains from the roadway; the body is barely visible. The other photograph is of the same view, taken closer to the body, showing skeletal remains. The other photograph concerned Aguilar. It showed only her ankles and shoes, and her feet tied with yellow rope. All of the photographs were relevant. The first two show that the perpetrator left the body in an area where it was unlikely to be discovered, and corroborate Charlene's testimony about the killing. The third photograph corroborates Charlene's testimony regarding the type of shoes the victim was wearing. None of the photographs is so gruesome that we would find its admission an abuse of discretion ( Allen, supra, 42 Cal.3d at p. 1256), and in any event on this record it is difficult to imagine that had the challenged photographs been excluded the result would have been different ( id., at p. 1258).