Opinion ID: 460324
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Identification Procedures

Text: 18 At trial, Officer Filoni was permitted to identify Sebetich as the man who shot at him from the pickup truck, and to testify that he had selected a photograph of Sebetich after examining a spread of five photographs some 18 months after the robbery. Sebetich challenges both portions of this testimony on due process grounds. He argues that the photo spread was suggestive because it contained the photograph that Filoni had earlier, albeit spontaneously, identified as that of his assailant. Sebetich further argues that this allegedly suggestive procedure tainted the in-court identification, and that no independent basis for that identification could exist in view of the circumstances surrounding Filoni's encounter with the pickup truck. 19 Evidence of an out-of-court identification comports with due process unless the taint of suggestiveness created a very substantial likelihood of misidentification. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 198, 93 S.Ct. 375, 381, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972). For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the out-of-court identification was not impermissibly suggestive and was properly admitted. The in-court identification could not therefore be suppressed. 20 As we have noted, the impetus for the photospread occurred some 18 months after the robbery, when Officer Filoni noticed a photograph posted on the wall in the police station. According to his testimony at the preliminary hearing, Filoni, upon seeing the photograph, immediately and spontaneously identified the man in the picture, appellant Sebetich, as his assailant. 3 Approximately two months after Filoni's spontaneous identification of the single photograph, Agent Scupien showed Filoni a spread of five photographs, including the photograph which Filoni had identified earlier. Once again, Filoni selected Sebetich's picture as that of the man who had shot him. 21 We reject Sebetich's contention that Filoni's initial viewing of the photograph tainted the later identification from the array of photos. There is no contention that, except for the complaint that the previously identified photograph of Sebetich was included, the spread was suggestive. An inspection of the spread confirms that it was a fair one containing men of similar age and appearance. 4 Filoni, faced with a number of similar photographs, might have qualified his earlier identification. At the session with Agent Scupien, however, Filoni reiterated his belief that Sebetich's photo was that of his assailant. Inasmuch as the spread contained this photograph, it could be argued to the trier of fact that it has little independent probative value, but the second identification was not thereby tainted by the first. Nor was the photospread evidence flawed by any suggestive remarks by the law enforcement officer. Thus, evidence of the out of court identifications was properly admitted. 22 Because we conclude that the out-of-court identifications were not tainted, we perforce conclude that the in-court identification of Sebetich is admissible, for the only colorable (or asserted) basis for the claim that the in-court identification is inadmissible is the supposed suggestiveness of the out-of-court identification procedures. 5 23