Court Opinion

ID: 9633723
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:58:09.297363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:55:55.247461
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, Justice,
dissenting.
Being unable to agree with parts VI and IX of the majority opinion, it is in order to write briefly why this case should be returned to the district court for a new trial.
ADMISSION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE VICTIM’S BODY
The majority finds in its Part VI no problem with the district court’s admission into evidence four photographs of the victim’s body and one of the crime scene. The photographs were highly prejudicial, lacking sufficient probative value to outweigh the prejudice. Unlike some trial court calls, in this particular situation we are as able to make the call as was the trial court. This I say with proper regard for the trial court’s less favorable position, meaning that he, as any umpire or referee, is expected to rule instantly. We do not. The district court’s admission of these photographs was an abuse of discretion and requires that a new trial be granted.
Enno’s brief makes a compelling argument demonstrating that the photographs *410genuinely were lacking in probative value and were highly prejudicial. That argument is set out as follows:
VI.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING POST MORTEM PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DECEDENT.
The defendant sought a pretrial ruling prohibiting introduction at trial of certain photographs of the decedent, taken at the scene of the crime and in conjunction with her autopsy, pursuant to IRE 402-OS, asserting that they were not relevant to any disputed issue in the case and their prejudicial effect outweighed any possible probative value. (R. Vol. I, pp. 138-139). The trial court held two evidentiary hearings at which the State presented evidence in support of admitting the photographs. (Tr. Vol. I, pp. 1-15; Vol. 0, pp. 4-86). From the evidence presented the trial court concluded that: ‘[t]he apparent contested issue in this case will be the question of intent and malice.’ (R. Vol. I, p. 154). The court felt that certain of the photographs and slide reproductions of the same were probative of the issue of ‘deliberate intention, provocation and the circum- . stances attending the killing as it may show an abandoned and malignant heart.’ (R. Vol. I, p. 154). The court held that four photographs and/or slides from the autopsy and one photograph of the crime scene depicting the decedent’s body would be admitted at the trial.
Over the defendant’s objection, the crime scene photograph, Exhibit 42, and the autopsy photographs, Exhibits 79 through 82, were admitted at trial. Additionally, slide reproductions of Exhibits 79 through 82 were displayed to the jurors over the defendant’s objection. (Tr. Vol. II, p. 336, LL. 13-20; and Tr. Vol. III, p. 634, L. 3-p. 669, L. 7).
The evidence in support of admitting the State’s Exhibits 79-82 was presented through Dr. Charles Garrison, pathologist. Dr. Garrison indicated that the sole purpose of the photographs and slides was to assist him in adequately describing the nature and extent of the decedent’s injuries. (Tr. Vol. 0, p. 19, L. 22-p. 21, L. 9). Dr. Garrison testified that there were apparently five different mechanisms of injury. He indicated that the decedent had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, similar to a fist, she had been strangled, she was struck with a sharp edged object similar to the board described by the defendant, she had been run over by an automobile, and there had been an attempt to burn the body. He testified that these events occurred in the order described. (Tr. Vol. 0, p. 12, L. 9-p. 14, L. 17).
The injuries resulting from being run over and burned occurred after the decedent had died. These incidents occurred as much as twenty minutes after her death. (Tr. Vol. III, p. 775, LL. 5-25). Dr. Garrison testified that the injuries inflicted prior to the death of the decedent were all depicted in Exhibit 79 which is a photograph of the left side of decedent’s face and neck. (Tr. Vol. 0, p. 7, L. 24-p. 9, L. 5; Tr. Vol. III, p. 655, L. 21-p. 657, L. 12; Tr. Vol. III, p. 661, LL. 17-21). Exhibit 81 was of the right side of the decedent’s face and depicted the same general injuries as Exhibit 79. Exhibits 80 and 82 depicted those injuries which occurred after decedent’s death. (Tr. Vol. III, p. 645, LL. 8-25).
The pretrial evidence in support of admission of State’s Exhibit 42 was presented through Don Wycoff, criminalist for the State of Idaho, and Ken Lynn, an officer with the Pocatello Police Department who had training in accident reconstruction. Their testimony indicated that Exhibit 42 accurately depicted the location and condition of the decedent’s body when they first observed it at the crime scene. They also indicated that tire tracks which were visible in Exhibit 42 could support either an inference that the body had been run over by an automobile at that location or that the body had been placed there after the car had passed. They also indicated that everything depicted in this photograph, other than the decedent’s body, was ac*411curately depicted in other exhibits. (Wycoff, Vol. 0, p. 33, L. 22-p. 34, L. 25; Lynn: Tr. Vol. 0, p. 40, LL. 8-17 & p. 43, LL. 12-22).
Exhibit 42 was admitted at the trial through the testimony of Officer Tim Hillebrandt, evidence custodian for the Pocatello Police Department. Officer Hillebrandt testified he took the photograph admitted as Exhibit 42 and stated that it accurately reflected the location and condition of the decedent’s body at the crime scene. Exhibit 42 was admitted over defendant’s objection and shown to the jury. (Tr. Vol. II, p. 336, L. 1-22). Neither Don Wycoff nor Officer Lynn testified with reference to Exhibit 42 at the trial. (Tr. Vol. II, pp. 382-405, 419-21, Vol. III, pp. 561-634).
The prejudicial effect of these exhibits was not disputed. The total lack of any probative value of Exhibits 79-82 is best illustrated by the testimony of Dr. Garrison, who proved more than adequate to the task of describing the decedent’s injuries in words. (Tr. Vol. III, p. 646, L. 17-p. 653, L. 3). Whatever probative value the nature and extent of the decedent’s injuries may have had on establishing the defendant’s mental state at or preceding the death of the decedent, it is clear that Dr. Garrison’s description of those injuries fully addressed it. The photographs and slide presentation served merely to inflame the passions of the jury.
The photographs and slides admitted as Exhibits 42, 79, 80, 81 and 82 were highly prejudicial. Their probative value was less than slight. Exhibits 80 and 82 showed injuries inflicted on the deceased after her death, perhaps as much as twenty minutes after her death. The prejudicial effect of admitting these photographs greatly outweighed any evidentiary value which they possessed. It is simply not conceivable that the photographs gave any greater indication of the defendant’s mental state than did the bare description of his acts. The photographs did not tend in any [way] to establish a disputed fact. They should have been excluded. See, State v. Beam, 109 Idaho 616, 620, 710 P.2d 526 (1985).
Appellant’s Brief 46-50.
THE FIXED LIFE SENTENCE
In part IX of its opinion the majority finds no abuse of discretion in the trial judge’s sentence of a fixed life term with no indeterminate period and no possibility of parole. Considering the evidence presented on the defendant’s background, psychological makeup, amenability to treatment and rehabilitation, all sentencing goals would be satisfied here by imposing a term of years less than the fixed life term. There was an abuse of discretion, and this case should be remanded for resentencing if it is not to be remanded for a new trial.
Dr. Lebegue, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that the defendant was diagnosed as having an anti-social personality disorder of moderate degree. Tr. Vol. V, 1012. He testified that the criminal behavior of those diagnosed as having anti-social personality disorder diminishes with age, and that the drop in criminality is rather precipitous and generally occurs between age 40 and 50. Tr. Vol. V, 1013-15, 1035.
Dr. Lebegue testified that the defendant’s severe alcoholism was largely the result of genetic loading over which the defendant had no control. Tr. Vol. V, 1016-18. He stated that the defendant’s history suggested that he was unlikely to be involved in violent crimes in the future, and that this particular crime was an isolated incident and occurred from a combination of intoxication, anti-social personality disorder, and a response to the severe physical abuse he had experienced as a child. The killing resulted largely from the defendant’s suppressed anger from the severe abuse he received. The personality disorder allowed him to act outside of the boundaries established by society in releasing that anger, and defendant’s extreme intoxication facilitated release of that anger. With appropriate treatment the suppressed anger could be dealt with. The personality disorder could not be treated, but would decline to the point that it would not pose a significant risk to socie*412ty at some point in the future. The alcoholism could not be corrected, but could be controlled. Tr. Vol. V, 1038-39, 1055-57, 1070.
Mr. Newman, the supervisor for the Department of Probation and Parole for the Sixth District, with credentials of fourteen years of corrections education and training, provided the district court with his opinion that the defendant could be considered for parole at some point in the future, adding that Enno would not be released if he displayed any significant problems while incarcerated or did not receive a favorable report on his psychological condition. Tr. Vol. V, 1086-94.
Thus it is seen that Barrette Enno, an eighteen year old man at the time of this crime, is thought to be capable of being rehabilitated. Prior to this incident, at an earlier age, any of his brushes with the law were minor, and there was no history of aggressive behavior. Without doubt, as murder cases come and go, and we have seen many in the past ten or twelve years, this was a bad murder, which is not to say that there are any good murders. Nonetheless, keeping an eighteen year old in prison for the rest of his life entails a huge cost to society, and it is a cost that will unnecessarily be incurred since the defendant in this case is capable of being rehabilitated.