Opinion ID: 2543459
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Two-Part Test for Determining Admissibility of Out-of-Court Photographic Identification

Text: Recognizing the inherent dangers of pretrial identification, the United States Supreme Court set out the standard for viewing photographic displays in Simmons v. United States . The Supreme Court stated: [E]ach case must be considered on its own facts and ... convictions based on eye witness identification at trial following a pretrial identification by photograph will be set aside on that ground only if the photographic identification procedure was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. 390 U.S. 377, 384, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968). This standard has developed into a two-part analysis. First, a court must determine whether the photo array was impermissibly suggestive, which the defendant has the burden of proving. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 198, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); United States v. Sanchez, 24 F.3d 1259, 1262 (10th Cir.1994). If this burden is not met, no further inquiry is necessary. Sanchez, 24 F.3d at 1262. Second, if the defendant's burden is met, the burden shifts to the People to show that despite the improper suggestiveness, the identification was nevertheless reliable under the totality of the circumstances. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977); Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199, 93 S.Ct. 375; Sanchez, 24 F.3d at 1261-62. It is important to note that these two steps must be completed separately; it is only necessary to reach the second step if the court first determines that the array was impermissibly suggestive. Sanchez, 24 F.3d at 1262. In evaluating whether a pretrial photo identification procedure is impermissibly suggestive, a number of factors may be relevant. These include the size of the array, the manner of its presentation by the officers, and the details of the photographs themselves. United States v. Wiseman, 172 F.3d 1196, 1208 (10th Cir.1999); Sanchez, 24 F.3d at 1262. Although courts have held that a photo array with as few as six pictures is not per se a due process violation, see, e.g., United States v. Bennett, 409 F.2d 888, 898 (2d Cir.1969), courts have recognized that the size of a photo array, specifically the number of pictures in it, is a factor affecting the weight a court gives to the irregularities in the array. Sanchez, 24 F.3d at 1262. The more pictures used in an array, the less likely it is that a minor difference, such as background color or texture, will have a prejudicial effect on selection. Id. In contrast, when relatively few photographs are used in an array, minor differences such as background color make a picture stand out and can repeatedly draw a witness's eyes to that picture. Id. In Sanchez, the court noted: Common sense dictates that slight irregularities are more likely to jump out at a witness when reviewing a single sheet of paper with only six photographs on it than at a witness reviewing a large mug book containing hundreds of photographs. Upon continued inspection, the witness may begin to believe that the oddball picture was taken under different circumstances than the others. This fact can suggest a number of things to the witness, the most dangerous of which is that the similar pictures were taken together to form a pool or control group, and that the one picture that stands out is the suspect. Id. Thus, the fewer photographs used by the officers in a photo array, the closer the array must be scrutinized for suggestive irregularities. Id. When the number of photographs shown has not been so small as to make the presentation itself unfairly suggestive, and there is nothing in the officials' manner of presentation that renders the procedure surrounding the array suggestive, the principal question is whether the picture of the accused, which matches descriptions given by the witness, so stood out from all of the other photographs as to `suggest to an identifying witness that [that person] was more likely to be the culprit.' Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d 34, 41 (2d Cir.1986)(quoting United States v. Archibald, 734 F.2d 938, 940 (2d Cir.1984)). In other words, the array must not be so limited that the defendant is the only one to match the witness's description of the perpetrator. United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 974 (2d Cir.1990). The police do not have to provide a photo array containing only exact replicas of the defendant's picture; all that is required is that the photos are matched by race, approximate age, facial hair, and a number of other characteristics. People v. Webster, 987 P.2d 836, 839 (Colo.Ct.App. 1998); People v. Borrego, 668 P.2d 21, 23 (Colo.Ct.App.1983); United States v. Fernandez, 456 F.2d 638, 641 (2d Cir.1972). Thus, a photo array in which the individual characteristics of the accused, such as race, stand in stark contrast to the other photographs is impermissibly suggestive. State v. Thamer, 777 P.2d 432, 435 (Utah 1989). But see Williams v. Weldon, 826 F.2d 1018, 1021 (11th Cir.1987)([S]imply being of a different race or ethnic group from others placed in a lineup does not necessarily make the lineup impermissibly suggestive, especially where. . . the other individuals had roughly the same characteristics and features of the accused.). In United States v. Fernandez , the court found that a photographic array was impermissibly suggestive when witnesses had described the bank robber as a light-skinned Black man with an Afro haircut, and of the six photographs presented, only that of the defendant showed a Black man having a light skin tone. 456 F.2d at 641-43. Similarly, in United States v. Gidley, 527 F.2d 1345, 1350 (5th Cir.1976), the court found a photographic display impermissibly suggestive because none of the other pictures displayed the defendant's Asian appearance nor did any of the men pictured, except the two defendants, have long black hair. The court noted that [a]nyone who had gotten a glimpse of two robbers with long black hair would have found only [the defendants'] pictures in this group to resemble those robbers. Id. Although it is not required that all of the photographs in the array be uniform with respect to one given characteristic, Jarrett, 802 F.2d at 41, a photographic array that includes a photo that is unique in a manner directly related to an important identification factor may be held impermissibly suggestive. See Grubbs v. Hannigan, 982 F.2d 1483, 1490 (10th Cir.1993)(Although a photo-lineup is not necessarily suggestive merely because the individuals in the lineup differ in facial characteristics, . . . here the differences were either strikingly apparent, such as a swollen eye, or they related to an important component of [the victim's] description of her assailant, his hair style.). If the court finds a photo array impermissibly suggestive, it must then proceed to the second step of the analysis and determine whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the suggestive procedure created a very substantial likelihood of misidentification. Manson, 432 U.S. at 116, 97 S.Ct. 2243. The factors to be considered in determining whether, despite a suggestive array, the identification was nonetheless reliable are: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime; (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. Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199, 93 S.Ct. 375; People v. Monroe, 925 P.2d 767, 771-72 (Colo.1996). In conducting this analysis, a court must balance the suggestiveness of the procedures employed against indicia of reliability surrounding the identification to determine whether the identification should be suppressed. Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243; Grubbs, 982 F.2d at 1490. Reliability is the linchpin in determining the admissibility of identification testimony. Manson, 432 at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243. As long as the totality of the circumstances does not indicate a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification, no constitutional impediment to the admission of the identification testimony exists. Id. at 116, 97 S.Ct. 2243.