Evidentiary Issues Presented by Organ Donation
Defendants in criminal cases also have attempted to use the removal of the victim’s organs to preclude the admission of photographs into evidence.
1. In Green vs. State, the defendant was found guilty of murder. On appeal, the defendant alleged that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a photograph of the victim taken after several of his organs had been removed for transplantation. The court rejected the defendant’s assertion, stating that the gruesome nature of the photo was not grounds to exclude it if it shed light on the issue being tried.
2. In State vs. Bock, the appellate court rejected the defendant’s assertion that photographs of the victim taken after his organs has been removed for donation has been admitted into evidence improperly. The court found that although the admission of the photographs may have been prejudicial, such error was harmless.
Resource: Lynch, V. & Duval, J. Forensic Nursing Science – Second Edition.