UPDATE - Zachary Atwood has now been charged with capital murder, Arkansas's highest murdering offense, instead of first-degree murder.
FAULKNER Co., Ark. (KTHV) - A judge in Faulkner county ruled to allow crime scene photos to be entered as evidence in the trial against Zachary Atwood, who is accused of killing his 3-month-old stepson.
Atwood was arrested in June 2016 on suspicion of manslaughter of Mitchell Goss after he stated in an interview that he put Mitchell in an infant bed after sitting on him.
Following an autopsy, the medical examiner said it was “unlikely” the infant’s injuries were sustained from someone sitting on his head. The reports showed the infant “suffered bilateral skull fractures and bleeding on the brain into the scalp and around the brain.” It also stated the infant's injuries were so extensive that it would have been “inconsolable until he became unconscious.”
Atwood was formally charged in July 2016 with first-degree murder.
On Feb. 16, Circuit Judge Charles Clawson Jr. chose to admit crime scene photos as evidence during the trial, against the request of Atwood's attorney.
His attorney, Defense Attorney Danny Rasmussen, argued the photographs should be excused because their value to the case was "substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice" which he believed could cause "confusion of the issues or misleading the jury."
The prosecutor argued the pictures should be considered as evidence because they were pertinent to building a case against Atwood.
“The State...intends to use only those photographs which are relevant to proving the Defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Colin Wall said.
As a condition of acceptance, Judge Clawson ordered prosecutors to have crime scene photos they intend to use selected prior to the scheduled trial so that the prosecution can review the selected photos with the defense.
Atwood is currently being held in the county jail with a bond set at $100,000. He is set to stand trial Feb. 28 through March 2.
