Opinion ID: 1763919
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: motion to suppress identification because of the police line-up

Text: Here the defendant argues that the trial court committed error in denying his motion to suppress identification. The argument is made that the line-up to which he was subjected on October 20, 1978 was suggestive and prejudicial. At the defendant's trial, evidence of this line-up was presented. At the hearing on the motion to suppress the State presented the testimony of Police Detective Ronald Richards, who conducted the line-up which defendant finds objectionable. The officer testified that the two defendants were placed in the line-up with seven prisoners from the House of Detention, who apparently had been selected on the basis of their resembling both of the accused. All of the line-up participants wore House of Detention jumpsuits and had numbers around their necks. The witness stated that the defendants did not have an attorney present but that he had contacted the indigent defender's office, informed them of the line-up and after waiting an hour, proceeded to conduct the investigation. [3] At the police line-up four victims of the armed robbery at the Privateer Lounge were brought to see it. They were instructed to be seated away from each other and not to talk to nor to signal anyone. Then the line-up of the nine men was brought onto a stage in the police department viewing room. Each participant, individually, was instructed to walk and was positioned at various angles in order to afford the victims a full view. Following the line-up the victims, who had remained separated, were individually interviewed. Four of the witnesses positively identified defendant Nicholas and two positively identified defendant Roland. One witness made a tentative identification of Nicholas and also of a third participant. Detective Richards testified that it was neither indicated nor suggested in any way to any of the victims whom they should identify. Each of the four victims was called at the hearing on the motion and testified that their decisions were made entirely of their own free will, that they followed police instructions to sit apart and remain silent and that no one influenced their decisions. With regard to the question of suggestiveness, State v. Robinson, 386 So.2d 1374, 1377 (La.1980) held that: A line-up is unduly suggestive if the identification procedure displays the defendant so that the witness' attention is focused on the defendant. For example distinguishing marks on the photographs may single out defendant. State v. Guillot, 353 So.2d 1005 (La.1977). A line-up can also be suggestive if a sufficient resemblance of physical characteristics and features of persons in the line-up does not exist to reasonably test the identification. State v. Guillot, supra; State v. Gray, 351 So.2d 448 (La.1977); State v. Anthony, 347 So.2d 483 (La.1977). Even if an identification procedure is suggestive, it will not result in reversal of a conviction if it is demonstrated that the identification was reliable. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977); State v. Guillot, supra. A photograph of the line-up in the instant case (State's Exhibit 10) is provided in the record. A review of the nine subjects photographed in the line-up offers no support whatsoever for the defendant's allegation of suggestiveness. Neither defendant stands out from the other seven men. There appears to have been an adequate matching of basic physical appearance. In any case, as indicated above, even if the identification procedure used here is determined to have been suggestive, that alone would not render the identification inadmissible nor result in reversal. State v. Davis, 385 So.2d 193 (La.1980). Due process is violated by the substantial likelihood of misidentification, not merely suggestiveness. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977). Even if suggestive, the identification is admissible if the totality of the circumstances demonstrate that the identification was reliable. State v. Guillot, supra. With regard to the reliability of an identification the factors to be considered include: ... the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the witness' degree of attention, the accuracy of his prior description of the criminal, the level of certainty demonstrated at the confrontation, and the time between the crime and the confrontation. Against these factors is to be weighed the corrupting effect of the suggestive identification itself. Manson v. Brathwaite, supra; State v. Guillot, supra. In the instant case the trial judge limited inquiry at the hearing to suggestiveness. Nevertheless, applicability of the above standards of reliability to the facts at hand is possible. In spite of the limitation, the record of the hearing does indicate that the victims were able to view the defendants for several minutes, although they were offered only a limited view because of partial masks worn by the armed robbers during the holdup. More light is shed on what the victims saw by an examination of the record of the trial itself. One of the victims, Arthur Simmons, made a positive identification of both defendants at the line-up and at the trial. This witness testified that despite the bandanas around the armed robbers' lower faces, he had a full opportunity to view the defendants in the well-lit bar as they held up each of the six patrons. He testified, furthermore, that the robbers stayed in the bar for five to ten minutes. Similar accounts of the original incident and the chance they had to view the armed robbers were given at the trial by the other three victims who participated in the identification. Consequently, applying the Manson reliability standards, it is apparent that the victims at the bar had from five to ten minutes to view the defendants in a well lighted room at very close range. Furthermore, these were victims, caught in a dangerous situation and confronted by men capable of killing them instantaneously, and not merely passersby nor mere observers. These individuals, who undoubtedly were filled with a high degree of attention at the time, were positive in their identifications (with the exception of one tentative identification of Ms. Alderman) and the firmness of their identification. Considering the totality of the circumstances dealing with the reliability of the victims' identification and the line-up in the instant case, it certainly does not appear that there existed any substantial likelihood of misidentification. Consequently, even if it should be determined from viewing the photograph that the line-up was suggestive (in point of fact, the photograph actually underscored the fact that the line-up was far from suggestive), the introduction of this out-of-court identification does not appear to have violated due process and the trial court does not appear to have erred in denying the motion to suppress the identification. Thus, as indicated at the outset of this portion of this opinion, it should be quite apparent that this particular objection by the defense was utterly groundless. To say that this claim of error lacks merit is a pronounced understatement.