N.Y. CPL Law § 60.25 — New York Code / Act CPL / Part 1 / Title D / Article 60 / Section 60.25
Rules of evidence; identification by means of previous recognition, in absence of present identification
Status: in_force

§ 60.25 Rules of evidence; identification by means of previous\n          recognition, in absence of present identification.\n  1. In any criminal proceeding in which the defendant's commission of\nan offense is in issue, testimony as provided in subdivision two may be\ngiven by a witness when:\n  (a) Such witness testifies that:\n  (i) He or she observed the person claimed by the people to be the\ndefendant either at the time and place of the commission of the offense\nor upon some other occasion relevant to the case; and\n  (ii) On a subsequent occasion he or she observed, under circumstances\nconsistent with such rights as an accused person may derive under the\nconstitution of this state or of the United States, a person or, where\nthe observation is made pursuant to a blind or blinded procedure as\ndefined in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, a pictorial, photographic,\nelectronic, filmed or video recorded reproduction of a person whom he or\nshe recognized as the same person whom he or she had observed on the\nfirst or incriminating occasion; and\n  (iii) He or she is unable at the proceeding to state, on the basis of\npresent recollection, whether or not the defendant is the person in\nquestion; and\n  (b) It is established that the defendant is in fact the person whom\nthe witness observed and recognized or whose pictorial, photographic,\nelectronic, filmed or video recorded reproduction the witness observed\nand recognized on the second occasion. Such fact may be established by\ntestimony of another person or persons to whom the witness promptly\ndeclared his or her recognition on such occasion and by such pictorial,\nphotographic, electronic, filmed or video recorded reproduction.\n  (c) For purposes of this section, a "blind or blinded procedure" is\none in which the witness identifies a person in an array of pictorial,\nphotographic, electronic, filmed or video recorded reproductions under\ncircumstances where, at the time the identification is made, the public\nservant administering such procedure: (i) does not know which person in\nthe array is the suspect, or (ii) does not know where the suspect is in\nthe array viewed by the witness. The failure of a public servant to\nfollow such a procedure shall be assessed solely for purposes of this\narticle and shall result in the preclusion of testimony regarding the\nidentification procedure as evidence in chief, but shall not constitute\na legal basis to suppress evidence made pursuant to subdivision six of\nsection 710.20 of this chapter. This article neither limits nor expands\nsubdivision six of section 710.20 of this chapter.\n  2. Under circumstances prescribed in subdivision one of this section,\nsuch witness may testify at the criminal proceeding that the person whom\nhe or she observed and recognized or whose pictorial, photographic,\nelectronic, filmed or video recorded reproduction he or she observed and\nrecognized on the second occasion is the same person whom he or she\nobserved on the first or incriminating occasion. Such testimony,\ntogether with the evidence that the defendant is in fact the person whom\nthe witness observed and recognized or whose pictorial, photographic,\nelectronic, filmed or video recorded reproduction he or she observed and\nrecognized on the second occasion, constitutes evidence in chief.\n