Opinion ID: 2258811
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Defense Request to call Hodge as a Witness at the Pretrial Suppression Hearing

Text: At the pretrial suppression hearing, Detective Vacin described the photo array procedure, and he testified that Hodge selected a photo of Scales from the array, identifying him as Reds, the person who shot Lawrence. Defense counsel, seeking to establish that Hodge's out-of-court identification should be suppressed because the photo array was unduly suggestive and was obtained in a coercive environment, cross-examined Detective Vacin in that light. Defense counsel then requested that Hodge be called to testify, proffering that his testimony would differ drastically from that of the detectives. The court denied the request, stating that Hodge had nothing to offer regarding suggestivity, and that the court would not make a final reliability ruling until the appropriate time at trial. The trial court found it had sufficient information to rule that the photo identification procedure was not defective or unduly suggestive, giving detailed facts and reasoning to support its finding. [14] At a pretrial suppression hearing, the trial court enjoys broad discretion in whether to allow proffered evidence regarding suggestivity, and we will overturn an exercise of that discretion only upon a showing of abuse. Towles v. United States, 428 A.2d 836, 846 (D.C.1981); see also Minor v. United States, 647 A.2d 770, 775 (D.C.1994), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 347, 133 L.Ed.2d 244 (1995). Furthermore, the rules of evidence normally applied in criminal trials do not apply with full force at suppression hearings. Mitchell v. United States, 368 A.2d 514, 518 (D.C.1977); United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 172-73, 94 S.Ct. 988, 993-94, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974). Scales contends that because he proffered that Hodge's testimony would differ from that of Detective Vacin and would be relevant to suggestivity and reliability, the trial court committed reversible error by not hearing from Hodge. Scales's argument fails for several reasons. First, Scales's proffer was insufficient for review by this court: he gave no details of the alleged differences in testimony and did not preview the trial testimony fragments upon which he now relies. See McBride v. United States, 441 A.2d 644, 656 (D.C.1982) (when the court instructs witness not to answer, in order to show error the proponent of the testimony must proffer the testimony expected, or something which clearly indicates it); District of Columbia v. Barriteau, 399 A.2d 563, 569 (D.C.1979) ([t]o properly preserve excluded testimony for review on appeal, trial counsel must normally make an offer of proof . . . [sufficient] `to lay the foundation for an affirmative showing of error') (quoting Shlopak v. Davison, 34 A.2d 126, 127 (D.C.1943)). Second, even though Hodge testified on cross-examination and redirect at trial that he was pressured to make the identification, Scales did not seek reconsideration of the pretrial ruling on admissibility. To be sure, in most circumstances the pretrial ruling is the law of the case and cannot ordinarily be revisited at trial; however, when new grounds, including new facts, surface at trial, the defendant may seek to reopen the matter. Rushing v. United States, 381 A.2d 252, 257 (D.C.1977). Scales failed to do so, and he also failed to request that the court make a final reliability determination. [15] Because he did not attempt to reopen the matter, when events at trial suggested that he might have been entitled to do so, the issue has not been preserved. Smith v. United States, 666 A.2d 1216, 1225 (D.C.1995); James v. United States, 580 A.2d 636, 642-43 (D.C.1990). Finally, even if Scales's proffer was sufficient and the issue was preserved, we conclude that the trial court did not commit reversible error in disallowing Scales's request to call Hodge as a witness at the pretrial hearing. In Minor, supra, 647 A.2d at 775, the trial court denied a defense request to call the identifying witness at a hearing on a motion to suppress the show-up identification. The government had presented only the testimony of another officer who had witnessed the show-up identification. The trial court ruled, on the basis of that testimony, that the identification procedure was not suggestive and the identification was reliable. We held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the request to call the witness because the contested witness's trial testimony was fully consistent with the other officer's suppression hearing testimony, and because testimony from the contested witness would not have affected the outcome of the motion. Id. Similarly, Hodge's testimony on direct examination was fully consistent with Detective Vacin's suppression hearing testimony. In addition, as we discussed in Part II., Hodge's direct testimony established the necessary predicate for admitting Hodge's prior identification of Scales. Therefore, in the absence of a specific proffer by counsel that Hodge would deny the identification, we have no basis for concluding that Hodge's testimony at the suppression hearing would have affected the outcome of the motion. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to hear testimony from Hodge at the suppression hearing.