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Nevada Jury Improperly Shown “GUILTY” Stamped Booking Photo

Nevada Jury Improperly Shown “GUILTY” Stamped Booking Photo

On November 27, 2013, the Nevada Supreme Court reversed a Las Vegas man’s 2011 convictions and remanded the case for a new trial, holding that a PowerPoint slide showing his face with the word “GUILTY” superimposed over it might have tainted the jury.

In 2011, Frankie Alan Watters, 27, was arrested for stealing and wrecking a car, stealing a second car, and leading police on a high-speed chase before running into a store where he was cornered and bitten several times by a police dog.

Watters was charged with possessing a stolen car, grand larceny auto, and failing to stop for an officer. His “principal defense was that he was not the man who stole the cars, just someone the police happened to find who matched the suspect’s description,” according to the Nevada Supreme Court.

During opening statements the prosecutor showed the jury a PowerPoint presentation, featuring a booking photo of Watters with animation that stamped the word “GUILTY” across his face. As the photo was displayed, the prosecutor verbally asked the jury to find him guilty.

Watters was “very upset” when he saw the slideshow, according to his attorneys. The trial court overruled defense objections, however, and the jury was allowed to see the photo.

By declaring Watters guilty, the graphic’s message crossed a line that prosecutors would not be permitted to cross verbally, the Court held. Citing research that visual information can be more persuasive than oral argument alone, the Court reversed Watters’ convictions.

“The state has not shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the booking-photo slide sequence did not affect the jury’s determination of Watters’ guilt,” the Court held. See: Watters v. State, 313 P.3d 243 (Nev. 2013).

Source: Associated Press

Related legal case

Watters v. State