Task: songer_direct1

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Your task is to determine the ideological directionality of the court of appeals decision, coded as "liberal" or "conservative". Consider liberal to be  for the defendant. Consider the directionality to be "mixed" if the directionality of the decision was intermediate to the extremes defined above or if the decision was mixed (e.g., the conviction of defendant in a criminal trial was affirmed on one count but reversed on a second count or if the conviction was afirmed but the sentence was reduced). Consider "not ascertained" if the directionality could not be determined or if the outcome could not be classified according to any conventional outcome standards.

PER CURIAM:
The district court held that appellee was denied due process by admission at his trial for burglary of the identification testimony of a witness who had viewed appellee before trial in a “one-man lineup” at which appellee did not have assistance of counsel. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967). The court ordered appellee discharged from custody unless the state gave him a new trial.
We are satisfied from a reading of the trial record that the constitutional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 272, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1967).
The witness’ in-court identification was qualified and uncertain — she candidly agreed that she was “not really sure” that appellee was the burglar. On the other hand, the other evidence of ap-pellee’s guilt was all but conclusive: ap-pellee’s fingerprint was found at the scene of the crime on a piece of glass from the window which the burglar broke to effect entry; and a prescription bottle issued to appellee and marked with his name was found with the loot which was abandoned miles away. It is our belief that there is no reasonable possibility that the identification testimony might have contributed to appel-lee’s conviction.
Reversed.

Question: What is the ideological directionality of the court of appeals decision?
A. conservative
B. liberal
C. mixed
D. not ascertained
Answer:

Answer: A