Opinion ID: 44614
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Claim Nine

Text: 20 Coleman contends that a line-up at which Prado tentatively identified him was impermissibly suggestive. After hearing testimony at a suppression hearing, the trial court found that the line-up did not violate Coleman's constitutional rights. The state habeas court found that the line-up was not improperly suggestive and that Prado's in-court identification of Coleman was based on her observation of Coleman at the time of the murders. The state habeas court also found that the earlier photo spread from which Prado identified Coleman as the shooter just nine days after the murders was not improperly suggestive. The district court found that Coleman failed to rebut the determinations of the state habeas court. Additionally, the district court found that Prado's identification of Coleman from the photo spread, standing alone, was sufficient to support the later in-court identification, regardless of any impropriety in the line-up. Alternatively, the district court independently found that the line-up and in-court identification were sufficiently reliable. Coleman did not challenge the photo spread on federal habeas, thereby acceding to its propriety. 21 [A] conviction based on an eyewitness identification at trial following a pretrial identification by photograph will be set aside only if the identification procedure was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a substantial likelihood of misidentification. Herrera v. Collins, 904 F.2d 944, 946 (5th Cir.1990) (citing Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968)). A two-step process governs the admissibility of identification evidence: First, a court must determine whether the pretrial identification was impermissibly suggestive; if it was, then second, a court must determine whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the suggestiveness leads to a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Id. Such an analysis is a mixed question of law and fact. Livingston v. Johnson, 107 F.3d 297, 309 (5th Cir.1997). See also Sumner v. Mata, 455 U.S. 591, 597, 102 S.Ct. 1303, 71 L.Ed.2d 480 (1982) ([T]he ultimate question as to the constitutionality of the pretrial identification procedures . . . is a mixed question of law and fact . . . .). Accordingly, Coleman cannot prevail in federal habeas unless he shows that the state court acted contrary to or unreasonably applied Supreme Court precedent in finding that the line-up was not impermissibly suggestive and that, even if it were, it did not taint Prado's identification of Coleman. The Supreme Court has identified several factors to help determine the likelihood of misidentification: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the crime scene; (2) the witness's degree of attention; (3) the accuracy of the witness's prior description of the criminal; (4) the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation; and (5) the length of time between the crime and the confrontation. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199-200, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); Livingston, 107 F.3d at 310-11 (applying Biggers ). Prado was inside the car, in the rear passenger-side seat, when Coleman fired on the car from the passenger side; Prado said she saw the assailant fire the gun, at one point claimed that she would never forget the shooter's face, and described the shooter as having several identifying physical features that Coleman does not dispute accurately describe him. Furthermore, as the district court noted, nine days after the crime Prado was shown a photographic array from which she positively identified Coleman, and that array is not challenged on appeal. Assuming, without deciding, that the line-up was impermissibly suggestive, Coleman has failed to demonstrate that the state habeas court's determination that Prado's in-court identification was not improperly tainted is contrary to or an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent. Reasonable jurists could not debate the district court's determination.