Opinion ID: 844212
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of Motion for Pretrial Lineup

Text: Defendant, before trial, filed a motion for a physical lineup for the purpose of exploring whether he could be identified by Bettina Redondo, Colleen Heuvelman, or any other witness. He contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion. We disagree. (3) In Evans v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 617 [114 Cal.Rptr. 121, 522 P.2d 681], we held that when eyewitness identification is shown to be a material issue and there exists a reasonable likelihood of mistaken identification, due process may require that an accused, upon timely request therefor, be afforded a pretrial lineup in which witnesses to the alleged criminal conduct can participate. ( Id. at p. 625.) We reasoned that because the People are able to compel a lineup, fairness requires the defendant be given a reciprocal right to discover and use lineup evidence. ( Ibid.; see also People v. Hansel (1992) 1 Cal.4th 1211, 1221 [4 Cal.Rptr.2d 888, 824 P.2d 694].) We explained: A properly conducted lineup is, among other things, a device by which the People can discover which witnesses are able to identify an accused and thus provide material evidence of guilt. At the same time the lineup may reveal that other witnesses, perhaps some who should be able to identify the real perpetrator of a crime, are unable to identify the particular accused as such criminal. If so, that evidence is equally material and access thereto should not be denied an accused. ( Evans, at p. 623.) A trial court ruling on a request for a pretrial lineup considers the benefits to be derived from it, the reasonableness of the request, and the resulting burden on the prosecution, the police, the court, and the witnesses. ( Id. at p. 625.) Further, [t]he broad discretion vested in a trial judge or magistrate includes the right and responsibility on fairness considerations to deny a motion for a lineup when that motion is not made timely. Such motion should normally be made as soon after arrest or arraignment as practicable. We note that motions which are not made until shortly before trial should, unless good cause is clearly demonstrated, be denied in most instances by reason of such delay. ( Id. at p. 626; accord, People v. Redd (2010) 48 Cal.4th 691, 725 [108 Cal.Rptr.3d 192, 229 P.3d 101].) Defendant's motion, filed on December 30, 1996, was untimely. The complaint charging defendant with the murder of Armando Miller had been filed on June 23, 1995, defendant made his first court appearance in the matter on July 28, 1995, and the preliminary hearing was held on December 14, 1995. Detective Tarpley testified at the hearing that Bettina Redondo and Colleen Heuvelman had picked defendant out of photographic lineups. Defense counsel also observed that identification was a material issue, noting Redondo at one time had identified another man as the gunman, although she later recanted that identification. Defendant, therefore, was well aware that the ability of the witnesses to identify him would be an issue at trial. In People v. Baines (1981) 30 Cal.3d 143 [177 Cal.Rptr. 861, 635 P.2d 455], we held that, in the absence of good cause for the defendant's delay, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying a motion for a pretrial lineup made two and a half months after the date of the defendant's arrest, and one and a half months after the preliminary hearing. The motion in the present case was made a year and a half after defendant was arrested on the charges and a year after the preliminary hearing. Defendant asserts that the burden of conducting the lineup was lessened because the trial was continued after he filed the motion. But a lineup is always burdensome, and that the trial was continued does not justify defendant's delay in making the motion. Defendant's explanation for the delay was that he had been sent back to prison after the preliminary hearing, counsel had not conferred with him about the matter for another six months, and after discussing the matter they were uncertain whether a pretrial lineup would be of any aid to defendant's case. But neither defendant's failure to act nor the defense team's indecision about trial strategy establishes good cause for delay. In addition, unlike the situation in Evans v. Superior Court, supra, 11 Cal.3d 617, where the witnesses' ability to link the defendant to the crime was explored for the first time at trial, the substance and quality of the eyewitnesses' observations in this case and their ability to identify defendant were known long before defendant filed his motion. That the witnesses had picked defendant out of pretrial photographic lineups also meant they could not have been influenced by the inherent suggestiveness of his presence at the defense table. That the witnesses had identified defendant from a photograph taken shortly after the murder was more significant than their ability or inability to pick him out of a live lineup conducted long after the murder. Indeed, the record suggests defendant's appearance had changed somewhat since the time of the crimes. [4] Under the circumstances presented here, due process did not require affording defendant a pretrial lineup.