Cite as 290 Ark. 223 (1986)
N.C. 453, 128 S.E.2d 889 (1963) (ten gory color photographs of dead body were excessive); Sipsas v. State, 716 P.2d 231 (Nev. 1986) (prejudicial effect of color autopsy photograph of eviscerated child victim exceeded its probative value); Young v. State, 234 So. 2d 341 (Fla. 1970) (admission of photographs of partially decomposed torso was prejudicial error); State v. Floyd, 360 S.W.2d 630 (Mo. 1962) (photograph of decomposed body was needlessly inflammatory); Jordan v. Commonwealth, 371 S.W.2d 632 (Ky. 1963) (photographs of mangled body of victim of car collision in inVoluntary manslaughter case were improperly admitted where force of collision was established by other evidence, but error not preserved for appeal); and State v. Connor, 434 A.2d 509 (Me. 1981) (admission of photograph showing bullet wound and distorted face of victim was error, but was harmless in light of overwhelming evidence against defendant).
Some states, in recognition of the potential for prejudice caused by inflammatory photographs, have adopted a rule that the photographs are not admissible unless they are "of such essential evidentiary value that their need clearly outweighs the likelihood of inflaming the minds and passions of the jurors." Commonwealth v. Liddick, 370 A.2d 729 (Pa. 1977). See also McCullough v. State, 255 Ga. 672, 341 S.E.2d 706 (1986) (postautopsy photographs must be "necessary" to establish a material fact that could only become apparent because of the autopsy.)
[2, 3] In the present case, an element of the state's proof was that the death was caused "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life." It is not true, as appellant argues, that the fact that she did not administer the blows makes the photographs totally irrelevant, because she is liable for the conduct of her accomplice. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-302 (Repl. 1977). Neither does the fact that she admitted to everything shown in the photographs necessarily remove all probative value, since we have held that this alone does not preclude admission. Nevertheless, when the state and the defendant agree not only on the cause of death and the brutal manner in which it was carried out, but also on who inflicted the injuries and his "extreme indifference" in doing so, that has a bearing on the probative value of the photographs.
