In the case of Underwood v. State, the defendant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. On appeal, he argued that the evidence presented by way of the videotape of the crime scene as well as still pictures depicting the victim's body outweighed the tape's probative value and the probative value of the pictures and was prejudicial, and thus constituted reversible error. The appeals court ruled:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The admissibility of photographs is typically left up to the discretion of the trial judge, and his or her decision is usually only overturned if there is an abuse of discretion. This is because photographs can be important in portraying the facts of a case, even if they are gruesome or unpleasant. The fact that the defendant argued that the evidence presented was prejudicial does not necessarily mean that it was improper, as long as it was relevant to the case. While the court may have considered the probative value of the videotape and may have found it to be low, this information is not provided in the given information. Ultimately, the best choice is C, as it explains the general rule regarding the admissibility of photographs in criminal trials.

In the Case of Underwood V