Opinion ID: 2543636
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Overall Reliability Assessment

Text: ¶ 64 Considering the facts in the light most favorable to the trial court's decision [to admit the eyewitness testimony] and giving due deference to the trial judge's ability to appraise demeanor evidence, id. at 784, we conclude that the identifications were constitutionally reliable and therefore admissible. Regarding demeanor evidence, we note that the trial court found all the witnesses to be credible persons. In addition, many of the circumstances bearing on reliabilitylighting, viewing distance, consistency among the witnesses, and suggestibility of the identification procedurecompare very favorably to the eyewitness testimony deemed constitutionally reliable in Ramirez. Although considerably more time passed between the robberies and identifications in this case than in Ramirez, the passage of time was not so long as to force the conclusion that the identifications should not have been admitted into evidence. Overall, the factors bearing on reliability clearly indicate that the identifications in this case were at least as reliable as the identification in Ramirez. Accordingly, we conclude that admission of the eyewitness identifications into evidence did not violate Hollen's right to due process under Article I, Section 7 of the Utah Constitution.