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| Wednesday, Feb 14 2007 12:27 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Feb 14 2007 7:12 PM
The judge in the Vincent Brothers case drew a delicate line Wednesday between photos that illuminate an issue and those that show little but gore.
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Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael Bush explained he will allow photos that reveal an important point the prosecution would like to make in the case against the former vice principal, accused of killing five family members.
For instance, the judge will allow Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green to show photos of the foot of Brothers’ daughter Lyndsey.
The defense believes there was blood on her foot, but the prosecution thinks the discoloration came from decomposition. The prosecution can now show the photo to the jury as an expert talks about it.
But overly gory photos, such as autopsy photos, will not be shown, because they will not reveal anything in dispute to the jury, the judge ruled.
Both sides agree that everyone in the family was shot and Brothers’ wife, Joanie Harper, was also stabbed.
Other decisions include:
• The defense will be able to present an expert to testify about how police can elicit lies from people through improper questioning techniques.
But the judge said the expert could not discuss the Brothers case specifically.
Defense attorneys Anthony Bryan and Michael Gardina believe investigators pressured a witness into giving incriminating statements against Brothers. The prosecution denies this.
• Bush will allow the prosecution to present an expert witness from the FBI who will interpret the crime scene.
For instance, he will tell the jury that the killer staged the crime scene to look like a robbery even though nothing of monetary value was taken.
• The prosecution may be able to show images of people with blond hair at church with the Harper family in the hours before the prosecution believes the family was killed.
But the prosecution can bring this up only if the defense brings up the two blond hairs found in Joanie Harper’s bed when she died.
• Next week the judge and attorneys will take a tour of the house where the family died.
The prosecutor wants the jury to see the house itself even though she has a model.
Brothers’ attorneys objected because they believe the house has no furniture, meaning it could carry sound better.
After the judge takes the tour, he will decide if the jury should go there during the trial, too.
Wednesday morning, Bush and the attorneys started questioning 85 new potential jurors. The judge excused about 30 because they had pre-paid vacations, couldn’t afford to serve on a jury for three months, are going to school full time and other reasons.
Over the next few days these jurors will face further questioning. All the jurors from the past few weeks will return to court Feb. 21 and the attorneys will excuse the jurors they do not think would be favorable to their case.
Brothers, a former vice principal, is accused of killing his wife, Joanie Harper; their three children, Marques, Lyndsey and Marshall; and Joanie Harper’s mother, Earnestine.
Brothers has pleaded not guilty.
His family was found dead on July 8, 2003, and he was arrested in April 2004 on suspicion of committing the murders.
Jury selection is expected to continue Thursday, and the trial is expected to begin Wednesday.