People v. Zeitler, Docket No. 110695

• Decision Date: 09 May 1990
• Docket Number: Docket No. 110695
• Citation: 183 Mich.App. 68,454 N.W.2d 192
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy Harold ZEITLER, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 192

454 N.W.2d 192

183 Mich.App. 68

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy Harold ZEITLER, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 110695.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted Feb. 7, 1990.

Decided April 2, 1990.

Released for Publication May 9, 1990.

Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Louis J. Caruso, Sol. Gen., Michael D. Thomas, Pros. Atty., and Pamela A. Rumpz, Asst. Pros. Atty., for the People.

Neil C. Szabo, Flint, for defendant-appellant on appeal.

Before WEAVER, P.J., and SHEPHERD and GRIFFIN, JJ.

GRIFFIN, Judge.

Defendant appeals as of right from his conviction by jury trial of first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder, M.C.L. Sec. 750.316; M.S.A. Sec. 28.548. The court imposed a single sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Defendant's conviction stemmed from the brutal sexual assault and murder of Wave M. Berryman.

On appeal, defendant raises two issues. First, he argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting into evidence several color photographs of the victim's body and of the crime scene. We disagree.

Generally, the admission of photographic evidence is within the discretion of the trial court. People v. Eddington, 387 Mich. 551, 562, 198 N.W.2d 297 (1972). Photographs are not inadmissible merely because they are gruesome and shocking. People v. Stewart, 126 Mich.App. 374, 377-378, 337 N.W.2d 68 (1983). However, such photographs should not be admitted if their probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. MRE 403; People v. Turner, 17 Mich.App. 123, 130, 169 N.W.2d 330 (1969). The danger is that exposure to vivid and gruesome images of the victim will cause a juror to forget that the defendant may not be responsible for the outrage. People v. Bryant, 129 Mich.App. 574, 581, 342 N.W.2d 86 (1983).

In the instant case, the trial court properly exercised its discretion by admitting some of the photographs into evidence. Although the photographs are clearly gruesome and shocking, they were nevertheless relevant as to material issues in the case. MRE 401.

While the defendant primarily relied upon the defense of insanity, other defenses as to the sufficiency of the proofs were raised and not waived. Defendant never stipulated to the nature and extent of the victim's injuries. On the contrary, defense counsel in his opening statement informed the jury that "there are a number of things that will have to be decided in this case ... [o]ne of the things, of course, will be whether or not my client was involved in the death of Wave Berryman."

The elements of the crime, including the nature and extent of the injuries, sexual penetration, and defendant's state of mind, were materially at issue. Accordingly, we find the photographs were relevant as to matters for which the prosecution bore the burden of proof.

On the prejudice side, the primary danger from the admission of such photographs into evidence is that the jury may become inflamed by the images and lose focus of the issues to be decided. However, in the instant case, the photographs were not overly prejudicial to defendant in view of defendant's insanity defense. As this Court has noted before, the gruesome photographs

may have been beneficial to the insanity defense, as the jurors might have reasoned that a "sane man" would not...