WASHINGTON (CNN)  -- Taken alone, a California woman's 20-minute video "scrapbook" is basically a collection of photographic memories spanning her 19-year-old daughter's all-too-brief life. Birthday parties, picnics, graduations -- all set to evocative music and narrated matter-of-factly by the mother.





John Paul Stevens was one of three justices who wanted to grant further review of the defendant's case.





What makes this video unusual is that it was presented at a California murder trial as "victim impact evidence."





The Supreme Court on Monday gave an indirect endorsement to such videos when it rejected an appeal from a defendant who argued that the presentation violated his right to a fair trial.





The high court also rejected a similar capital case, also from California, involving a woman who narrated a video montage of her slain parents. With the court's refusal to intervene, the death sentences imposed by the juries in the two cases were upheld.





At issue was not whether any testimony can be used showing the impact a crime victim's loss had on family, friends and society at large. The question for the justices was how that testimony is presented. Some trial courts, but not all, have allowed such videotapes to be played in court, while often placing limitations on the content.





One case involved Douglas Oliver Kelly, convicted in the 1993 slaying of Sarah Weir. The teenager had befriended Kelly at a Burbank gym. Her body was found stabbed 29 times, probably by a pair of scissors.





During the penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution presented just one witness to provide victim impact evidence: the victim's mother, Martha Farwell, a Los Angeles-area attorney. She had prepared the video, describing how her daughter had been adopted from Canada and was a Blackfoot Indian. In the background is the music of Enya, an Irish singer and composer.





Most of the video simply describes the photos and home movies, but near the end is a shot of Weir's grave and Farwell's narration: "As time goes by, I try very hard not to think of Sarah in terms of this terrible tragedy that we've had to deal with here in court, but rather of her in a place like this."





Over photos of the Canadian landscape, Farwell concludes, "This is filmed in southern Alberta, the land where Sarah's people lived for so many generations. This is the kind of heaven she seems to belong in."





The trial judge had allowed the video to be presented, calling it a "very compelling tape" and adding that "it has more probative value than any prejudicial effect."





Kelly appealed, saying the video so influenced the jury that the panel was unable to render a fair assessment of the penalty. California's highest court allowed the verdict and death penalty to stand, but urged judges to use caution in allowing such video evidence.





Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, in a brief statement, said Monday he would have accepted Kelly's appeal of his sentence and held oral arguments on the issue.





"The videos added nothing relevant to the jury's deliberations," he wrote, "and invited a verdict based on sentiment, rather than reasoned judgment."





But it takes four justices to grant further review of a case, and only Justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer joined Stevens.





Breyer called the Kelly video "poignant, tasteful, artistic and, above all, moving," but he noted that was the problem. "Those aspects of the film tell the jury little or nothing about the crime's 'circumstances' " the jury had to consider during sentencing.





The companion case dealt with Samuel Zamudio, convicted in the February 1996 slayings of Elmer Benson, 79, and his wife Gladys, 74, in the South Gate area of Los Angeles. The defendant lived next door to the Bensons and owed money to them. He robbed and stabbed the elderly couple, and a jury sentenced him to death.





The Bensons' daughter, Linda Bouffard, narrated 118 scenes from her parents
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Douglas Oliver Kelly,
question: what is the name of the defendant of the case?, answer: Douglas Oliver Kelly,