Court Opinion

ID: 9768616
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 06:11:33.131145+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:42.429813
License: Public Domain

MOORE, J.,
concurring in the result.
I write separately because I believe that the Territorial Court judge abused his discretion in allowing the entire videotape to be shown to the jury over appellant's objection that it was unduly prejudicial and cumulative. The trial court erred by not requiring the prosecutor to redact the highly inflammatory portion of the tape, described as "15 minutes of gore" by appellant,6 the prejudicial value of which clearly outweighed its limited probative value. Not only is this segment of the videotape extremely gruesome, graphic, and gory, but the extent to which it focused on the exposed genitalia of the partially clothed victim is appalling, especially in the absence of any evidence that the victim had been sexually molested. Furthermore, it was unnecessary, inflammatory, and prejudicial for the jury to have been exposed to the camera's extended panning over the victim's exposed sexual organs, since the prosecution always conceded that the victim had not been sexually molested.7 These graphic and inflammatory portions of the video rendered the entire tape unfairly prejudicial.
*198In addition to being unduly prejudicial, the videotape was cumulative and otherwise unnecessary to the prosecution. For example, the government had a detailed diagram of the entire bedroom, which more than adequately depicted the position of the victim and her injuries, including the defensive wounds on her arms and legs, and other items the government argues were necessary to show Albert's participation in the crime. (See J.A. vol. 6, at 1071-72.) Moreover, the prosecution introduced six similarly graphic color photographs of the victim and her wounds the government argues were necessary to show Albert actually participated in the killing. Although appellant objected to the photographs at trial, he has not appealed their admission into evidence.
Photographs 123 and 124, for example, are blow-ups of the victim's arms that display the many defensive cuts and much blood, but that also clearly show no blood on either of the white shoe laces tying her wrists to the bed's headboard. The government introduced these photographs as evidence that Albert lied about tying the victim to the bed while she was still alive and before she had been cut, since the laces were not spattered with blood, (see government's closing argument, id., at 943, 946, 1006-07), and that he lied about not helping with the murder, since the amount of blood from the extensive defensive wounds evidenced a struggle requiring both Albert and his accomplice to restrain the victim while she was being stabbed, (see id., at 945-46, 994-95). In addition, photograph 118 is a side-view of the decedent's body and photographs 121 and 122 show the injuries to her neck and face, before and after the wide plastic tape has been removed.8
To the extent that the gore and genitalia shown on the videotape had any relevance or probative value, it was cumulative to the color photographs of the victim and her wounds admitted in evidence, and inflammatory nature of the videotape obviously outweighed its probative value. The videotape depiction of the *199victim's exposed genitalia, of course, had absolutely no probative value or relevance.
I reluctantly conclude, however, that the trial court's abuse of its discretion in admitting the entire videotape and allowing it to be played by the jury during their deliberations did not constitute reversible error in light of the other, overwhelming evidence that appellant committed felony murder, which is clearly summarized by the majority opinion. I therefore must concur in the majority's affirmance of the jury's verdict. Nevertheless, I forcefully caution the government that it risks reversal by overzealous attempts to sway the jury with such unnecessarily inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence, which would require reversal under other circumstances.
ORDER OF THE COURT
AND NOW this 2 day of February 2000, having considered the arguments and submissions of the parties, and for the reasons set forth in the Court's accompanying opinion of even date, it is hereby
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the rulings of the Territorial Court are AFFIRMED.

 (See Br. of Appellant at 25.)

 It must be assumed that the jury reviewed these unnecessarily offensive sections during its unsupervised access to the entire tape in the jury room, whether or not this was one of the portions past which the prosecutor fast-forwarded in the courtroom.

 (See Exhibits 118, 121, 122, 123, and 124, reproduced in J.A. vol. 6, at 1093-98.) The first three photographs were admitted during the testimony of the pathologist, Dr. Francisco Landron. (See J.A. vol. 3, at 419-22 (Exs. 118,121,122).) The next two photographs were identified by Dr. Landron, (see id. at 423,463 (Exs. 123,124)), and admitted later, (see J.A. vol. 4, at 669-70).