Court Opinion

ID: 9700974
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:55:59.877342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:16.708490
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the jury to view photographs of the murder victim’s body. But the approach the majority utilizes to reach that result is misconceived. I therefore concur in the result.
In Commonwealth v. Powell, 428 Pa. 275, 241 A.2d 119 (1968), we held:
“[T]he proper test to be applied by a trial court in determining the admissibility of photographs in homicide cases is whether or not the photographs are of such essential evidentiary value that their need clearly outweighs the likelihood of inflaming the minds and passions of the jurors.”
Id. 428 Pa. at 278-79, 241 A.2d at 121. This Court has regularly followed Powell. E. g., Commonwealth v. Scaramuzzino, 455 Pa. 378, 317 A.2d 225 (1974). See also Commonwealth v. Petrakovich, 459 Pa. 511, 329 A.2d 844 (1974) (Roberts, J., dissenting) and cases cited therein.
The majority does not ignore this long line of precedent. Indeed it engages in the balancing analysis mandated by Powell, but only as the second step of a “two-tier analysis.” Interjected by the majority is the inappropriate initial discussion of whether these photographs of the victim’s corpse were “inflammatory.” Thus, under the majority’s “two-tier” approach, a determination that the photographs are “inflammatory” is a prerequisite to its application of the settled Powell standard.
The majority approach is clearly inconsistent with Powell, where the inflammatory nature of the photographs was appropriately considered only in the course of balancing the photographs’ evidentiary value against their prejudicial impact on the jury. Powell, unlike the majority’s analysis, is *510properly predicated on the well-established view that photographs of a murder victim’s corpse are necessarily inflammatory. See Commonwealth v. Scaramuzzino, supra, 455 Pa. at 381, 317 A.2d at 226 (“the practice of admitting photographs of the body of the deceased, unless they have essential evidentiary value, is condemned.”); Commonwealth v. Peyton, 360 Pa. 441, 62 A.2d 37 (1948) (same). Thus, the correct standard to be applied “involves weighing the necessarily inflammatory nature of this evidence against its ‘essential evidentiary value.’ ” Commonwealth v. Martinez, 475 Pa. 331, 380 A.2d 747 (1977) (plurality opinion). See also Commonwealth v. Norris, 477 Pa. 239, 246, 383 A.2d 912, 913 (1978) (Roberts, J., dissenting).
Applying the Powell balancing test to the facts of this case, I conclude that the trial judge abused his discretion by admitting these photographs. The extent of the injuries is of no bearing on a finding of felony murder. Moreover, the coroner who examined the body at the scene of the crime and the pathologist who conducted the autopsy testified extensively as to the condition of the victim’s body and the nature of the wounds. Whatever evidentiary value the photographs may have would be merely cumulative to the medical testimony. That minimal value is clearly outweighed here by the inflammatory nature of the evidence and the prejudicial impact it would necessarily have on the jury.