Court Opinion

ID: 9743120
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:25:45.576448+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:39.446816
License: Public Domain

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE STENGEL, concurring in part, dissenting in part: I agree with the majority that the jury was properly instructed on the offense of involuntary manslaughter. I strongly disagree, however, with their disposition of the issue of autopsic photographs raised in this case. To begin with, despite the majority’s ostensible adherence to the general rule that gruesome photographs are admissible if they are relevant, the emerging principle of today’s decision is that such photographs are only admissible if the case involves “a gruesome crime.” The general rule with respect to gruesome photographs is well settled and I do not believe the majority’s departure from it can be justified solely on the basis of the decision in People v. Dee (1st Dist. 1975), 26 Ill. App. 3d 691, 325 N.E.2d 336. In fact, Dee is distinguishable because there the court’s reference to “a gruesome crime” related to the gruesome photograph’s potential for prejudice, not its relevance to the case. Ordinarily the admissibility of gruesome photographs is determined by balancing their relevance against their potential for prejudicing the jury. Yet the majority today has confused these separate elements of relevance and prejudice. Analytically the first step in any case involving gruesome photographs is to determine that they are relevant to some disputed issue. Then, and only then, does it become necessary to weigh their potential for prejudice. The majority’s rule, however, relegates this balancing process to a position of secondary importance by requiring the trial judge to decide at the outset whether a particular crime is “gruesome.” This balancing process relies on well settled rules of evidence which can be applied uniformly in all cases, yet permits the court leeway in determining whether relevant photographs are prejudicial in a particular case. The majority’s rule, on the other hand, injects an undesirable subjective element into the analysis. I believe, therefore, the usual tests for determining the admissibility of gruesome photographs should have been applied in this case and the admissibility of such photos upheld. Probative gruesome photographs are admissible to prove such issues as the fact and cause of death, the number and location of the wounds, the manner in which they were inflicted and the wilfulness of the acts in question. (People v. Jenko (1951), 410 Ill. 478, 102 N.E.2d 783.) Gruesome photographs are also admissible to show the amount of force used (People v. Speck (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 177, 242 N.E.2d 208), and to help the jury better understand any medical testimony (People v. Owens (1976), 65 Ill. 2d 83, 357 N.E.2d 465; People v. Ford (1968), 39 Ill. 2d 318, 235 N.E.2d 576). I believe the instant photographs were clearly relevant to prove facts in issue, and were admissible to aid the jury in understanding Dr. Mansfield’s testimony, to establish the cause of death, to show the amount of force used, and to counter defendant’s position that he only struck Braden once. For example, Mansfield stated that Braden died as a result of subdural hematoma and extensive hemorrhaging at the base of the brain. It would have been unrealistic to expect a jury of laymen to have fully digested this testimony, e.g., that the base of the brain is not synonymous with the back of the head. Mansfield also explained how a blow to one side of the head produces injuries to the opposite side. Here Braden’s internal head injuries appeared on the side opposite from where Landry allegedly struck him. The photographs depicted this phenomenon, called contre coup, and were therefore relevant to establish the fact that death probably resulted from Landry’s punches. Furthermore, as the evidence at trial unfolded, the critical issue became whether the defendant’s acts were intentional or merely reckless. The photographs in this case, depicting extensive internal head injuries, helped resolve that issue because they tended to support Mansfield’s opinion that at least four blows were thrown and the testimony of the occurrence witnesses that Landry hit Braden repeatedly. After having earlier tried to impeach the occurrence witnesses by establishing they were not in a position to actually see what took place after Braden hit the floor, defense counsel cross-examined Mansfield in an attempt to show that death could have resulted from a single blow. Given the conflicting testimony of the witnesses at trial as to the number of blows Landry threw, the photographs made it more likely than not that death did not result from a single blow. The jury was therefore properly allowed to view these photographs in order to resolve a disputed issue bearing directly on the murder charge against Landry. The defendant’s argument that the photographs should not have been admitted in evidence because the pathologist had already given considerable testimony concerning his findings is not novel. It is not a valid objection to admissibility that the pathologist had already testified to the wounds and other conditions shown by the photographs. (People v. Owens (1976), 65 Ill. 2d 83, 357 N.E.2d 465.) They portrayed the condition of the body more vividly and accurately than could have been done by oral testimony or the use of charts. Moreover, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the photographs were cumulative because Landry conceded that he might have hit Braden more than once. In Owens the court affirmed the trial court’s admission of gruesome photographs despite testimony concerning the fact and cause of death. Here, despite Landry’s concession, he also testified that he remembered striking Braden only once. Far from being cumulative, then, the instant photographs helped to clarify defendant’s equivocal testimony. Assuming that the autopsy photographs were relevant and not merely cumulative, it follows that their admission in evidence depended entirely on the trial court’s exercise of its discretion. (People v. Le May (1966), 35 Ill. 2d 208, 220 N.E.2d 184.) The majority concedes this much, yet indicates that diagrams and drawings of Braden’s internal injuries would have been sufficient. This may or may not be true, but in any event the majority’s suggestion begs the point. EssentiaUy, the majority is substituting its own judgment for the trial court’s, although the trial court undoubtedly was in the best position to determine the admissibility of these pictures. Our Illinois Supreme Court recently frowned upon this practice with respect to reduction of sentences by appellate courts in People v. Perruquet (1977), 68 Ill. 2d 149, 368 N.E.2d 882. Perruquet is analogous because sentencing, like the admission of the instant photographs, is a matter of discretion. The same considerations favoring the decision in Perruquet ought to apply here. It is obvious that a defendant who claims an abuse of discretion assumes a heavy burden. Here the trial judge had to decide whether the photographs were so inflammatory in nature as to outweigh their probative value and preclude their admission. There are limits to the employment of judicial discretion, but those limits were not exceeded in this instance. As the majority notes, Dr. Mansfield explained to the jury that the gruesome nature of the photographs resulted in part from the autopsy process. His statements served to minimize the prejudicial impact of these photographs on the jury as indicated by their refusal to convict the defendant on murder. Accordingly, the defendant’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter should be affirmed.