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State v. Harris2/20/1998
tly denied the defendant's post-trial motions. These assignments of error are without merit.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 2
GRUESOME PHOTOGRAPHS
In assignment of error number 2, the defendant contends the court erred in admitting certain photographs (State Exhibits 13, 14, and 15) into evidence because he contends the photographs showed the same thing, the victim lying in a pool of blood, and were prejudicial and inflammatory. At trial, the defendant objected to these photographs on this basis and also commented that the defense was not going to argue that the victim was armed. The trial court found that the pictures were not gory, that they showed the victim on the floor from three different angles, and that some of the witnesses had injected into the case the issue of an aggressive move by the victim before the defendant shot him, such that the probative value out-weighed any prejudicial effect.
Louisiana Code of Evidence article 401 provides: "`Relevant evidence' means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Louisiana Code of Evidence article 403 provides: "Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or waste of time."
Photographs which illustrate any fact, shed light upon any fact or issue in the case, or are relevant to describe the person, place, or thing depicted, are generally admissible, provided their probative value outweighs any prejudicial effect. Post-mortem photographs of murder victims are admissible to prove corpus delicti, to provide positive identification of the victim, and to corroborate other evidence establishing the cause of death, the manner in which death occurred, and the location, severity, and number of wounds. State v. Hebert, 96-1884 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/20/97); 697 So.2d 1040. A photograph may be admissible to corroborate other testimony in a case, such as specific intent to kill. State v. Pooler, 96-1794, pp. 42-43; 696 So.2d at 50. Gruesomeness of photographs does not, in and of itself, prevent admissibility. The trial court's admission of allegedly gruesome photographs will be overturned on appeal only if the prejudicial effect of the photographs clearly outweighs their probative value. No error will be found unless the photographic evidence is so gruesome as to overwhelm the jurors' reason and lead them to convict the defendant without sufficient other evidence. State v. Hebert, 96-1884, p. 16; 697 So.2d at 1049.
In this case, State Exhibits 13, 14, and 15 show the victim lying on the floor from different angles. They show the crime scene and that the victim was unarmed. Although these photographs show a large quantity of blood, they are not gruesome. When we balance the probative value of the photographs with the likelihood the jury was inflamed simply upon viewing these exhibits, we find the probative value of the evidence outweighs the possible prejudicial effect. The trial court did not err in its ruling. This assignment of error lacks merit.
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NUMBERS 3 AND 4
EXPERT TESTIMONY
In assignments of error numbers 3 and 4, relying on LSA-C.Cr.P. arts. 719 and 729.3, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in allowing Mr. Churchman to testify concerning the characteristics of firing a gun at close range when the defense had no prior knowledge of the results of tests he had conducted, despite its discovery request for the pr
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