Opinion ID: 776676
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Line-up Identification

Text: 10 The standard of review for decisions refusing to suppress an identification has been described both as clear error, see United States v. Galati, 230 F.3d 254, 259 (7th Cir.2000); United States v. Moore, 115 F.3d 1348, 1359 (7th Cir.1997); United States v. Funches, 84 F.3d 249, 253 (7th Cir.1996), and as de novo with due deference to the district court's findings of historical fact, see United States v. Downs, 230 F.3d 272, 275 (7th Cir.2000) (citing Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)); United States v. Newman, 144 F.3d 531, 535 (7th Cir.1998); see also United States v. Curry, 187 F.3d 762, 768 (7th Cir.1999) (recognizing but not resolving this apparent inconsistency). 11 Consistent with Ornelas, we conclude that the latter standard of review is appropriate — a district court's decision to admit or suppress a line-up identification should be subject to de novo review with due deference to the court's findings of historical fact. This standard conforms to that followed in our sister circuits. See, e.g., United States v. Bowman, 215 F.3d 951, 965 n. 9 (9th Cir.2000); United States v. Flores, 149 F.3d 1272, 1278 (10th Cir.1998); United States v. Puckett, 147 F.3d 765, 769 (8th Cir.1998); United States v. Rusher, 966 F.2d 868, 873 (4th Cir.1992). In Ornelas the Supreme Court held that certain law enforcement actions that implicate a suspect's Fourth Amendment rights, such as determinations of probable cause and reasonable suspicion, should be reviewed de novo. See United States v. D.F., 115 F.3d 413, 416-17 (7th Cir.1997). The Court noted that a police officer's assessments of probable cause and reason able suspicion involve common-sense, practical considerations of everyday life; the propriety of these determinations depends on the facts of the particular case. Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 695-96, 116 S.Ct. 1657. In light of the particularized factual context in which such decisions are made, the Court concluded that the policy of sweeping deference embodied by the clear error standard would allow different trial judges to reach disparate conclusions in similar factual circumstances, yielding varied results that would be inconsistent with the idea of a unitary system of law. Id. at 697, 116 S.Ct. 1657. The same principle applies to the propriety of line-up identifications — their legitimacy depends on the facts of each case. A de novo standard of review with due deference to findings of historical fact will better unify case precedent and provide law enforcement officers with a defined set of rules when they conduct line-ups. Id. at 697-98, 116 S.Ct. 1657. 12 In this case the district court properly admitted the line-up identification. We conduct a two-step test in evaluating a challenge to the admissibility of a lineup identification. Harris must first establish that the line-up was unduly suggestive. See Downs, 230 F.3d at 275. If the line-up was suggestive, we must determine whether the identification was nevertheless reliable. See Galati, 230 F.3d at 259. Here, we need not reach the second step because there was nothing unduly suggestive about Wallace's line-up identification. The four other men in the line-up physically resembled each other and fit the detailed description first given by Wallace — all of the line-up participants were of similar age, height, weight, and general complexion, and all had facial hair and wore identical baseball caps. We have approved repeatedly line-ups composed of individuals who share like physical features. See id. at 260; Moore, 115 F.3d at 1360; Funches, 84 F.3d at 253; United States v. Sleet, 54 F.3d 303, 309 (7th Cir.1995). Harris argues that the line-up was unduly suggestive because he was the only person to appear in both the photo array and line-up. But there is nothing per se impermissible about placing the same suspect in two different identification procedures. See Gullick v. Perrin, 669 F.2d 1, 5 (1st Cir.1981). Moreover, the photo array was reasonable — police showed Wallace four pictures of four men, all having similar physical characteristics. And Wallace's line-up identification occurred nearly six months after she was first shown the photo array; after such a substantial passage of time, it is unlikely that she was influenced by the earlier photograph, let alone that it led to misidentification.