Court Opinion

ID: 9587679
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:25:08.713153+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:24.945295
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur fully in Divisions 2 and 3. I concur in the result with respect to Division 1 but not with its bases. The use of evidence during closing argument is generally permissible. See Ramsey v. State, 165 Ga. App. 854, 859 (7) (303 SE2d 32) (1983). This includes a videotape. Hodges v. State, 194 Ga. App. 837, 838 (3) (392 SE2d 262) (1990).
From what was said at trial, it appeared that defendant wanted, in closing argument, to stop the videotape at certain frames. The equipment used for showing the tape to the jury was not capable of this, and defendant had made no arrangements for accommodating this mechanically. For this reason, a favorable ruling would have been a hollow victory.
Insofar as disallowing the entire video or portions of it to be shown again repeatedly during defendant’s oral argument, I agree that he was not prejudiced by the jury’s not seeing it yet a fourth or more times during this phase of the trial.