California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Brooks, 219 Cal.Rptr.3d 331, 3 Cal.5th 1, 396 P.3d 480 (Cal. 2017):
displayed or the photograph's background suggests it was " particularly calculated " to do so. (People v. Smithey (1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 975, 86 Cal.Rptr.2d 243, 978 P.2d 1171.) There was no error in admission of the photograph. Nor did its admission violate defendant's federal and state constitutional rights. (Cf. People v. DeSantis, at p. 1231, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 628, 831 P.2d 1210 [in light of the strong evidence of guilt, there was little possibility that any sympathy toward the victims that was generated by the photograph lessened the reliability of the guilt verdict in violation of the 8th Amend.].)
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