Opinion

Alcorta v. State

  • 294 S.W.2d 112
  • 1956 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1682
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
May 30, 1956
Status
Published
Author
Morrison
On the bench
Morrison, Woodley, Davidson
Cited by
14 cases

The opinion

On Motion, for Rehearing

MORRISON, Presiding Judge.

The pictures, which form the basis for this appeal, have been described as ghastly and horrible. In a sense this is true of any picture of the body upon which acts of violence have been committed. The body portrayed in these pictures had been cleaned and lay prone on a hospital bed. They were not taken at the scene of the crime, and no blood or weapons were visible. We concluded originally that an issue had been made by the appellant’s testimony as to the number of wounds he had inflicted upon the body of the deceased, together with his testimony about Castilleja having inflicted an injury to her head. To the writer it is immaterial that this issue was raised by cross-examination. It was raised by the defendant’s testimony.

■Now to return to a description of the pictures. Our opinion herein is not to be construed as necessarily authorizing the introduction of pictures taken at the scene of the crime lying in pools of blood, but we do hold here that pictures such as these which tend. to solve a disputed issue are admissible, especially when taken against the least possible inflammatory background.

■ Appellant’s motion for rehearing is overruled.

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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