Judge Says Jury to See Picture of Slain Nurse’s Decomposing Body : Hearing: Ruling is a blow to the defense of the man accused of killing the Westlake woman last year.

A gruesome photograph of Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan’s partially decomposed body can be shown to the jury during the trial of her alleged killer, Thousand Oaks teen-ager Mark Scott Thornton, a judge ruled Thursday.

During a hearing in which prosecutors revealed parts of their strategy to send Thornton to the gas chamber, Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath delivered a series of blows to the defense.

In addition to one crime-scene photo, McGrath agreed to permit the jury to be shown pictures taken of the victim in a Thousand Oaks bank just hours before her death and to visit the brushy Santa Monica Mountains hillside where her body was found after a 12-day search.

The judge denied a defense request that would have removed some misdemeanor theft charges from Thornton’s murder prosecution.

McGrath also refused to rule Thursday on two other defense requests, including one that would have allowed the public defender’s office the unusual privilege of questioning a key prosecution witness before the trial.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris said he was pleased with the judge’s rulings in one of the county’s biggest murder cases in years.

“Judge McGrath has done a fair job,” said Kossoris, the lead prosecutor. “I’m not complaining about it.”

Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson had a different reaction. “We were disappointed that the rulings weren’t more favorable to the defense.”

Thursday’s rulings came in response to a dozen pretrial motions prosecutors and defense attorneys have filed as the Sept. 19 jury selection draws near.

Prosecutors say Thornton kidnaped and fatally shot O’Sullivan during a brief crime spree last September. The defendant is also accused of forgery, kidnaping his former girlfriend and shooting at the 16-year-old girl’s mother.

McGrath’s first decision was to delay ruling on whether a prosecution witness would be able to testify against Thornton if he is found guilty and faces death.

That witness, identified in court only as “Erika,” would testify during the sentencing phase about Thornton’s “sexual improprieties” toward her, prosecutors revealed for the first time. Thornton is not charged with sexually molesting O’Sullivan.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley also said that “Erika” would describe how Thornton once threatened her on a drive through the Santa Monica Mountains. Frawley said Thornton told the woman, “I could take you to a place where no one would ever find you.”

As for the requests to show photos, McGrath said he saw no reason why jurors should not see pictures of the victim at her local bank before her disappearance.

But McGrath was more restrictive with the three crime-scene photos, excluding the two most graphic.

Although he has presided over about 30 murder trials, McGrath said, “I have never seen photographs like these.

“They are terrible, and I don’t really think we should expose the jury to these,” he added. “These are the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Deputy Public Defender Howard J. Asher had argued that the pictures of O’Sullivan’s decomposed body would “inflame the passions of the jury.” He suggested prosecutors use a diagram and witness accounts to convey the same information.

But Kossoris said the pictures would best show the exact position in which O’Sullivan’s body was discovered. The pictures would also reveal that O’Sullivan expected Thornton only to steal her car and not to shoot her, because she still had her daily calendar in her hand when she was killed, Kossoris said.

“It seems to me that these photos potentially have a great deal of relevance,” Kossoris responded.

McGrath still has about a half dozen issues to rule on, including whether a jailhouse conversation between Thornton and his grandmother that police taped can be played for the jury.