BLACKWELL, Justice.
Chaunson McKibbins was tried by a Fulton County jury and convicted of murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, and concealing the death of another. He appeals, contending that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions, that the indictment failed to properly charge kidnapping with bodily injury, that the prosecuting attorney made improper and prejudicial statements in the presence of the jury, and that the trial court erred with respect to certain evidentiary rulings and jury instructions. We find no merit in these claims of error, and we affirm.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that McKibbins
A few weeks later, on November 18, Robbins went to a house on Wadley Street in Atlanta.
That evening, Robbins briefly escaped from the house.
After they put Robbins into the SUV, McKibbins and Earnest Lambert drove Robbins to a house in Riverdale. The next day, McKibbins called Green and asked him to bring food to the Riverdale house, and when Green arrived there, he found McKibbins, Raymond Lambert, and Dartantin Bailey. Green also saw Robbins, who was bloody and still in the SUV. McKibbins also summoned Shawn Sims to Riverdale, and when Sims arrived, McKibbins borrowed the keys to his car. McKibbins later returned the keys to Sims, and Sims was asked to drive his car to the home of McKibbins's sister, where McKibbins often spent the night. Sims did as he was asked, and when he arrived at the home of the sister, he heard Robbins — in the trunk of his car — yelling, "Let me out," and "I didn't take it!"
In the meantime, McKibbins told Green to obtain some plastic from Douglas Hunnicutt, and Green left Riverdale to do so. Late that evening, McKibbins called Green and directed him to report to the home of McKibbins's sister, explaining to Green that Robbins was making too much noise. After Green arrived, McKibbins retrieved plastic from Green's car, took Robbins out of the trunk of Sims's car, and led Robbins into the basement of the home. McKibbins also asked Green to go pick up "something" from Richard Otey. Soon thereafter, Green met up with Otey, and Otey handed over a chainsaw.
McKibbins contends on appeal that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions because the only evidence, he says, implicating him in the abduction and killing of Robbins was the uncorroborated testimony of Green, an accomplice. As we have explained before,
Threatt v. State, 293 Ga. 549(1), 748 S.E.2d 400, 2013 WL 4779209 (Case No. S13A1002, decided Sep. 9, 2013) (citations and punctuation omitted). See also former OCGA § 24-4-8 (in "felony cases where the only witness is an accomplice, the testimony of a single witness is not sufficient" and must be supported by the testimony of another witness or by "corroborating circumstances").
McKibbins also argues that the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, but it failed, he says, to exclude every hypothesis other than his guilt. "To warrant a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the proved facts shall not only be consistent with the hypothesis of guilt, but shall exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused." Former OCGA § 24-4-6.
2. McKibbins complains that the indictment failed to specify — with respect to kidnapping with bodily injury — the manner in which he allegedly injured Robbins. The indictment, however, tracked the language of the kidnapping statute. And as we have explained before, "[a]n indictment which charges a defendant with the commission of a crime in the language of a valid statute [generally] is sufficient to withstand a demurrer charging that the indictment is insufficient to charge the defendant with any offense." Stewart v. State, 246 Ga. 70, 72(2), 268 S.E.2d 906 (1980). See also Hinton v. State, 280 Ga. 811, 815(3), 631 S.E.2d 365 (2006). Moreover, the evidence shows that Robbins's body was so dismembered and decomposed that the medical examiner was unable to definitively ascertain his injuries and cause of death. We previously have held that an indictment need not specify the injury inflicted upon the victim "when the circumstances of the case will not admit of greater certainty in stating [such injury]." Phillips v. State, 258 Ga. 228, 228(1), 367 S.E.2d 805 (1988) (citations and punctuation omitted). The trial court did not err when it denied the demurrer.
3. McKibbins also contends that the prosecuting attorney made statements in the presence of the jury that were improper and prejudicial, and in light of those statements, he says, the trial court ought to have declared a mistrial. In support of this contention, McKibbins points to three statements of the prosecuting attorney. First, in her opening statement, the prosecuting attorney remarked that "this is by far the worst case I've ever seen." Second, also in her opening statement, the prosecuting attorney said that "[y]ou could be next." Third, in closing argument, the prosecuting attorney said, "I
(a) As far as the remark about this case being "the worst [the prosecuting attorney had] ever seen," we agree, generally speaking, that a lawyer — and a prosecuting attorney especially — ought not offer comparisons in the presence of the jury between the case at hand and other cases with which the lawyer is personally familiar. See Conner v. State, 251 Ga. 113, 123(6), 303 S.E.2d 266 (1983). That said, no one reasonably could dispute that this case involves especially gruesome crimes, and it appears that the prosecuting attorney was only attempting to prepare the jury for the evidence that would be forthcoming in the trial. Moreover, the issue disputed at trial did not concern the nature of the crimes — whether they were gruesome or not — but instead concerned whether McKibbins was culpable in those crimes. We confronted a similar issue in Conklin v. State, 254 Ga. 558, 331 S.E.2d 532 (1985), where we considered the remark of the prosecuting attorney in opening statement that the crime charged was "one of the most vile and brutal crimes ... in recent memory." We held that this remark did not require a mistrial, explaining that it "was not so much an invocation of prosecutorial expertise as it was an apology for having to bring gruesome items of evidence to the jury's attention." 254 Ga. at 573(11)(b), 331 S.E.2d 532. We also noted in Conklin that, in light of the undeniably gruesome nature of the evidence adduced at trial, "it [was] unlikely that prosecutorial experience or expertise played a discernable role in the jury's evaluation of the vileness and brutality of [the] crime." Id. As in Conklin, we conclude that the first remark about which McKibbins complains did not require a mistrial.
(b) About the statement that "[y]ou could be next," McKibbins argues that this statement amounts to an improper "Golden Rule" argument. See McClain v. State, 267 Ga. 378, 383(3)(a), 477 S.E.2d 814 (1996) (a "Golden Rule" argument that "importunes the jury to place itself in the position of the victim for any purpose must be carefully scrutinized" (citations and punctuation omitted)). But it is important to consider the context in which the statement was made, and in light of that context, a different understanding of the statement appears. The most reasonable understanding of the statement, we conclude, was that the prosecuting attorney was commenting on the motives of McKibbins, suggesting that McKibbins — who involved many of his associates in the events that led up to Robbins's death, sometimes by asking them to undertake rather mundane tasks — was trying to send a message to his own associates that, if they stole from him, "[they] could be next." We understand the reference to "[y]ou" to refer most naturally to McKibbins's associates, not to the jury. And so, the statement was not a "Golden Rule" argument.
(c) Finally, as far as the statement in closing argument that the prosecuting attorney equally "destest[ed]" Green and McKibbins, the trial court not only sustained the objection, but it admonished the prosecuting attorney in the presence of the jury and told the jury to disregard the statement.
4. Next, McKibbins argues that the trial court erred when it admitted evidence of the robbery in which McKibbins and his associates stole the cocaine from a drug dealer, noting that this robbery occurred several months before the crimes with which McKibbins was charged, and yet, the State failed to give notice that it intended to offer evidence of the robbery as a similar transaction.
The evidence of the robbery was offered not as proof of a transaction similar to the crimes with which McKibbins was charged, but rather, as proof of the circumstances in which those crimes were committed. In particular, the evidence of the robbery tended to show the great lengths to which McKibbins went to procure the cocaine in the first place and to explain why McKibbins was so enraged when the cocaine turned up missing. Accordingly, the evidence went to the motive that McKibbins had for punishing the person whom he believed was responsible for the disappearance of the cocaine.
5. McKibbins also claims that the trial court erred when it admitted, he says, post-autopsy photographs of the dismembered victim. But of the 13 photographs about which McKibbins complains, 12 were, in fact, pre-autopsy photographs. No doubt, those photographs are gruesome, but as we have explained, "[a] photograph which shows mutilation of a victim resulting from the crime against him may, however gruesome, have relevance to the trial of his alleged assailant." Brown v. State, 250 Ga. 862, 867(5), 302 S.E.2d 347 (1983). And indeed, in this case, the 12 pre-autopsy photographs were relevant, insofar as they tended to show malice, corroborated and illustrated the nature and extent of the injuries that Robbins suffered, indicated that Robbins was held against his will and bound with duct tape, and corroborated the testimony that the body was so dismembered and decomposed that the medical examiner could not definitively ascertain the cause of death. We have held before that pre-autopsy photographs may be relevant to show the extent, location, and nature of the victim's wounds, see, e.g., Felder v. State, 273 Ga. 844, 847(5), 545 S.E.2d 918 (2001), as well as to show the identity of the victim, his cause of death, and whether he was killed with malice. See, e.g., Johnson v. State, 289 Ga. 106, 107-108(2), 709 S.E.2d 768 (2011); Huey v. State, 263 Ga. 840, 842(5), 439 S.E.2d 656 (1994). The gruesome nature of the photographs notwithstanding, a defendant cannot complain about photographs that simply "portray the havoc wreaked by [his] own hand." Null v. State, 261 Ga. 180, 181(4), 402 S.E.2d 721 (1991) (noting also that "murder is a gory business") (citations and punctuation omitted).
As to the remaining photograph, it was a post-autopsy photograph, but it was admitted, we conclude, for a proper purpose. As we have explained, "[a] photograph that depicts the victim after autopsy incisions ... is admissible when necessary to show some material fact which becomes apparent only because of the autopsy." Norton v. State, 293 Ga. 332(3), 745 S.E.2d 630 (2013) (citations and punctuation omitted). In this case, the post-autopsy photograph of the victim depicted his head underneath his scalp, and it was necessary to show an injury — cerebral bruising caused by trauma to the head — that was apparent only upon autopsy. This evidence corroborated testimony that Robbins was beaten before his death, and it was the only injury suffered by Robbins prior to his death that the medical examiner was able to identify. Consequently, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted a single, post-autopsy photograph. See Stewart v. State, 286 Ga. 669, 670(3), 690 S.E.2d 811 (2010) ("The admission of photographic evidence is at the discretion of the trial court." (Citations omitted)).
6. In addition, McKibbins argues that the trial court erred when it allowed two letters — which he allegedly wrote in an attempt to influence witnesses — to go out with the jury during its deliberations. As a general rule, testimonial documentary evidence — such as affidavits, depositions, written confessions, statements, and dying declarations — should not be permitted in the jury room. See Davis v. State, 285 Ga. 343, 348(8), 676 S.E.2d 215 (2009). But when there is "original documentary evidence of [the defendant's] attempt to influence witnesses," such evidence may go out with the jury. Bollinger v. State, 272 Ga.App. 688, 692(2), 613 S.E.2d 209 (2005). The letters in this case were "original documentary evidence
7. Finally, McKibbins claims that the trial court erred when it failed to define "accomplice" in its jury charge. With respect to the corroboration required of accomplice testimony, the trial court instructed, in pertinent part:
We begin by noting that McKibbins failed at trial to object to this charge, and for that reason, our review is limited to a review for plain error. See OCGA § 17-8-58(b). See also State v. Kelly, 290 Ga. 29, 31-32(1), 718 S.E.2d 232 (2011). We see no plain error here.
In the first place, McKibbins points to no decision in which this Court or our Court of Appeals has found that a trial court erred by failing to define "accomplice" in connection with such a charge. Second, the charge given by the trial court was substantially identical to the pattern charge on accomplice testimony, which also does not define accomplice. See Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, Vol. II: Criminal Cases, §§ 1.31.90-1.31.94 (3
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur.