Opinion ID: 2343191
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: trooper bennett's identification testimony (# 23)

Text: Appellant maintains that a suggestive photographic show up procedure employed in this case rendered Trooper Bennett's identification of Appellant unreliable. Consequently, Appellant contends that the trial court should have: (1) suppressed all testimony concerning Trooper Bennett's out-of-court identification; and (2) prohibited Trooper Bennett from identifying Appellant at trial as the man who stepped out of the passenger side of Brady's pickup truck on October 7, 1991 and fired shots in his direction. The trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Appellant's motion at which Trooper Bennett and FBI Special Agent Phillip Lewzader testified. Following the hearing, the trial court entered a written order denying Appellant's motion to suppress in which it accurately outlined the facts as demonstrated at the hearing: On October 7, 1991, Bennett was dispatched to investigate a report of a truck on fire on Flint Hill Road. He arrived around midnight, or shortly thereafter, and observed a burned pick-up truck still smoldering. The fire department had preceded him and apparently extinguished the fire. A witness informed Bennett that a maroon or dark brown Ranger was seen in the area. Bennett left after approximately 45 minutes and returned to normal patrol. During the course of the evening, in Sonora, Kentucky at the Union 76 Truck Stop, he observed a Ranger pick-up truck in the parking lot matching the description given to him by the witness. He passed the parking lot, turned around, and observed that the Ranger was now in another location in the parking lot. As the Ranger left the parking lot Bennett observed two white males in the vehicle. He ran a check on the license plate and then proceeded to follow the Ranger onto Interstate 65 headed north for a distance of approximately two miles. When he activated his blue lights the Ranger abruptly pulled to the right and stopped in the emergency lane. Bennett pulled his cruiser into the emergency lane and while his cruiser was still rolling he observed someone exiting from the passenger's side. Bennett stopped his cruiser about two car lengths behind the rear of the Ranger. At that time the passenger was standing behind the truck behind the right rear wheel. The weather was clear and cold and Bennett related that he does not wear glasses. Bennett trained his spot light directly on the passenger. The passenger raised a handgun and fired two shots directed toward Bennett. Bennett ducked behind the dash board of his cruiser and when he raised up the Ranger was exiting the emergency lane and proceeding north on Interstate 65. Bennett related that he made a positive identification of the person who fired the handgun and that he was a white male, 5' 10, 180 pounds, brown or black hair (Bennett says this was a typo  it should have been brown or blond hair) and a scruffy bead. Later in the evening on October 8, 1991, Bennett, while at home, was informed by dispatch that an FBI agent wanted to talk to him. He went to the State Police Post in Elizabethtown and met with Phillip Lewzader, a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Lewzader exhibited to Bennett two photographs (mug shots). Bennett made a positive identification of the photo depicting the Defendant, Michael Dale St. Clair, as having been the person who fired two shots at him with a handgun; however, could not identify the second photograph. Agent Lewzader did not identify the name of either individual portrayed in the photographs. Trooper Bennett initially testified that he had received training in identifying suspects at the Kentucky State Police Academy and an additional 40 hours of training per year and had made thousands of vehicle stops in the 23 years that he had been with the Kentucky State Police. The trial court's order then identified the controlling precedent, applied that precedent to the facts of the case, and concluded that Trooper Bennett's identification was reliable: Considering the totality of the circumstances of this case, when reviewed in light of the criteria set forth in Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 196-7, [93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972)] the Court finds the photos were not misleading as to require suppression of Bennett's pretrial identification of the Defendant.... Applying [the Neil v. Biggers ] factors to the facts of this case, the Court concludes that the identification made by Bennett of the Defendant's photograph was reliable. The Court finds that the procedure utilized by Special Agent Lewzader did not create a situation in which there was a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. At trial, the Commonwealth introduced evidence of Trooper Bennett's October 8, 1991, identification of Appellant from the photograph presented to him by Special Agent Lewzader. In addition, Trooper Bennett identified Appellant in court. We agree with the trial court's ruling on Appellant's motion to suppress this testimony. The relevant United States Supreme Court precedent, Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972), establishes a two-prong due process test, Wilson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 695 S.W.2d 854, 857 (1985), under which the court must first determine whether the confrontation procedures employed by the police were `suggestive' [and then] [i]f [it] conclude[s] that they were suggestive, [it] then must assess the probability that the witness would make an irreparable misidentification, based on the totality of the circumstances[.] Id. Although Appellant correctly observes that this Court has held that the display ... of a single mug shot ... unaccompanied by any other pictures, was unnecessarily suggestive, Moore v. Commonwealth, Ky., 569 S.W.2d 150, 153 (1978) (citing Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977)), we held in the same case that, despite the suggestive procedure, [t]he crucial question ... is whether [the] in-court identification of appellants was reliable despite this suggestiveness, i.e., whether [the witness] likely would have been able to identify [the suspects] even if a proper photographic identification procedure had been utilized. Moore, 569 S.W.2d at 153. Because the photographic show-up procedure employed in the case at bar was sufficiently suggestive to satisfy the first prong of the Neil v. Biggers analysis, the relevant inquiry is thus whether, under the `totality of the circumstances,' the identification was reliable even though the confrontation procedure was suggestive. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199, 93 S.Ct. at 382. The United States Supreme Court has identified five (5) factors to be considered in evaluating the likelihood of misidentification: (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 time of identification; and (5) the length of time between the crime and the confrontation. Id., 409 U.S. at 199-200, 93 S.Ct. at 382. In addition to these five (5) factors, this Court has also considered whether other evidence tends to corroborate the witness's identification. See Merriweather v. Commonwealth, Ky., 99 S.W.3d 448, 452 (2003); Roark v. Commonwealth, Ky. 90 S.W.3d 24, 29 (2002). In applying these factors to Trooper Bennett's identification, we find it to be reliable despite the suggestive photographic lineup procedure. Because of the position of his cruiser and the fact that his spotlight illuminated Appellant, Trooper Bennett had ample opportunity to view him. Trooper Bennett's attention was sufficiently attuned to Appellant, who was, after all, firing a handgun in his direction at the time. While not perfect, Trooper Bennett's prior description was a fair representation of Appellant. At the suppression hearing, Trooper Bennett testified that, when he identified Appellant from the photograph presented to him I was sure. I mean, sure is sure and Special Agent Lewzader testified that Trooper Bennett was absolutely certain of his identification, which came less than twenty-four (24) hours after the shooting incident. In addition, Trooper Bennett's identification of Appellant is corroborated by Reese's testimony and significant circumstantial and forensic evidence. [T]he totality of the circumstances indicate that Appellant's due process rights were not violated, Merriweather, 99 S.W.3d at 451.