Opinion

Reeder v. State

  • 515 P.2d 969
  • 1973 Wyo. LEXIS 187
Court
Wyoming Supreme Court
Filed
Nov 14, 1973
Status
Published
Author
McINTYRE
On the bench
Parker, McEwan, Guthrie, McIntyre, McClin-tock
Cited by
40 cases
Authority
More cited than 7.1%

The opinion

McINTYRE, Justice

(concurring).

I concur in the result reached by the majority opinion, which is that the judgment of conviction must be affirmed. I cannot however subscribe to any implication which may be contained in the opinion to the effect that the trial court erred in admitting the photograph of decedent’s body in evidence. Also, I cannot agree that the photograph lacked probative value.

The objection made to the admission of the photograph at the time of trial was that it was inflammatory, did not show the true condition of the body of the decedent, and there was extraneous material on or about the head and abdomen which would tend to inflame the jury. At that time the court had no way of knowing what use attorneys would or would not make of the exhibit. Even if the prosecution did not make the kind of use of the exhibit which members of our court seem to think should *974 have been made, that would not relate back and make erroneous the admission of the picture in the first instance.

We have heretofore taken the position that it is largely within the discretion of the trial court to determine whether a picture is so inflammatory as to make its admission unadvisable. 1 I fail to see where the picture in this case was so inflammatory as to prejudice a jury.

. Linn v. State, Wyo., 505 P.2d 1270, 1276 ; Dickey v. State, Wyo., 444 P.2d 373, 377-378 ; State v. Lindsay, 77 Wyo. 410 , 317 P.2d 506, 509-510 ; State v. Alexander, 78 Wyo. 324 , 324 P.2d 831, 837 , cert. den. 363 U.S. 850 , 80 S.Ct. 1630 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1733 , Alcala v. State, Wyo., 487 P.2d 448, 456 , cert. den. 405 U.S. 997 , 92 S.Ct. 1259 , 31 L.Ed.2d 466 , reh. den. 406 U.S. 911 , 92 S.Ct. 1613 , 31 L.Ed.2d 823 .

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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