Opinion ID: 1060830
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 22

Heading: photo line-up [6]

Text: Appellant Quintero argues that the photo array shown to the witnesses in Memphis created a substantial likelihood of misidentification due to the suggestiveness of the array. Specifically, appellant Quintero argues that based upon the facts of this case, the photographic array was impermissibly suggestive because he was the only dark complected individual in the array, and this fact was emphasized because the background of his photograph was noticeably darker. This, appellant Quintero argues, would tend to draw the eye of anyone looking for a dark skinned individual. He further argues that the photo array was so suggestive that the admission of Shirley Morrow's in-court identification denied him the right to due process of law. We agree that the photographic line-up was suggestive as to appellant Quintero. We also agree that Ms. Christof should not have been allowed to testify concerning her identification of appellant Quintero from the photo line-up; however, after reviewing the record we do not find that Ms. Morrow's identification was unduly tainted by the suggestive photo-line up. Photographs contained in a photographic array do not have to mirror the accused. Instead, the law simply requires that the police refrain from suggestive identification procedures. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972). Thus, a photographic identification is admissible unless, based upon the totality of the circumstances, the confrontation conducted ... was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [the accused] was denied due process of law. Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 301-302, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 1972, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199, 1206 (1967). In Biggers , the Court set forth a five-factor analysis for determining whether an identification tainted by suggestion may nonetheless be admitted into evidence: 1. the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime. 2. the witness's degree of attention at the time of the crime. 3. the accuracy of the witness's prior description of the criminal. 4. the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation. 5. the length of time between the crime and the confrontation. Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199, 93 S.Ct. at 382; State v. Philpott, 882 S.W.2d 394, 400 (Tenn.Crim.App.1994). The photographic array shown to identification witnesses Darlene Christof, Shirley Denise Morrow, and Curtis Jones included pictures of the eight escapees from Eddyville, Kentucky. Co-defendant Blanton was the first picture in the first row of four photographs, appellant Quintero's photograph was number five directly underneath co-defendant Blanton's photograph, and appellant Hall's photograph was number six, next to appellant Quintero's photograph. Appellant Quintero is the only Hispanic in the line-up and his picture is a shade darker than the others. There was no attempt to choose photographs of men with similar physical characteristics. A jury-out hearing was held on the admissibility of testimony from Darlene Christof, Shirley Morrow, and Curtis Jones. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court held that the testimony was admissible with the exception that Mr. Jones was instructed not to testify that he had identified appellant Quintero from the photo line-up. At the hearing, Ms. Christof testified that she was working as a dancer at Blue Movies West on June 21, 1988. Three scruffy-looking men came into her booth. Because only one person was permitted in the booth at a time, two of the men left. The third man stayed a few minutes, then left. The third man returned to the booth in a few minutes with silver dollars. He wanted Ms. Christof to dance, but he did not have enough money, so he again left. Ms. Christof had read about the escapees in the newspaper and wanted the three men to leave. She walked to the front of the store like she was going to make a phone call and asked the people working if they had heard about the escapees from the Kentucky prison. The three men immediately left. Ms. Christof testified that the three men were only ten feet away when she made this statement. Ms. Christof testified that she could not remember how many of the pictures she had picked out for Agent Richard Stout, who showed her the photo line-up, however, she remembered picking out number five (Quintero) because he was the only Mexican individual in the line-up. She could not pick out the three pictures at the time of her testimony, nor could she identify the men as being in the courtroom. The following colloquy occurred during cross-examination: Q. Do you remember if you picked out anybody? A. I thinkI'm pretty sure I picked out a Mexican looking guy. Q. And the reason that you picked him out, would I be safe in assuming or asking you this question, the reason you picked him out was because he was Mexican looking? A. Yes. Q. And was that the only Mexican looking photograph that was shown to you, that there was only one Mexican looking person in the array, wasn't there? A. Yes. At the end of the hearing, the trial court determined that the photographic array was not suggestive and that Ms. Christof could testify. Subsequently, Ms. Christof testified at trial that she had identified number five (Quintero) for Agent Stout as one of the three men that came into her booth. She was unable to identify appellant Quintero in the courtroom, stating that she did not see any Hispanics. Ms. Morrow testified at the hearing that in June of 1988, she worked as cashier at the Blue Movies West near the bus station. On the morning of Tuesday, June 21, three men came into the bookstore and traded silver dollars and half dollars in order to purchase tokens to watch the live girl shows. Ms. Morrow also purchased some silver dollars for herself. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, the three men returned to the cash register. Ms. Morrow carried on a conversation with appellant Quintero. He tried to sell her a class ring for $50. She told him to take it to a pawn shop, but he said he didn't have any identification. The three men were standing right around the cash register, and she was able to get a good look at them. Ms. Morrow testified that at about this time, [Ms. Christof] came out of the back and she said, did you all hear about those prisoners that broke out up in Tennessee. And she said, you all look just like them. And then they left. Two days later, Agent Stout interviewed Ms. Morrow and showed her the same photographic array. Ms. Morrow picked out appellant Quintero, appellant Hall, and co-defendant Blanton. She testified that appellant Quintero was heavier and shorter than the other two men. She also testified that appellant Quintero had a beard. She thought the other two were clean shaven. At trial, Ms. Morrow testified that she picked out photograph numbers one (Blanton), five (Quintero), and six (Hall) from the line-up. She was the only witness who was able to identify both appellants in the courtroom. She pointed out that appellant Quintero did not have glasses when he came in the store and that he looked like he had lost weight. Oddly enough, Ms. Morrow identified number one (Blanton) as being of mixed descent. Finally, Curtis Jones testified at the hearing that he had been a security guard at the Memphis Greyhound bus station in 1988. As part of his job, he observed people that came into the bus station to ensure that they either had a bus ticket or were waiting for someone to arrive. On June 21, Mr. Jones saw three white men come into the bus station. All of the men had long hair, one was dark skinned and looked Spanish, and the other two men were white and had mustaches. Mr. Jones testified that two of the men sat down and began watching television while the Hispanic-looking man used the telephone. One of the men watching television, whom he identified as appellant Hall, was talking to a black man waiting on someone to arrive. When the men did not buy tickets, Mr. Jones approached the two seated men and asked if they had tickets. The man, whom Mr. Jones identified as co-defendant Blanton, told him that they would leave as soon as their friend finished using the phone, which they did. Mr. Jones testified that the three men were in the bus station approximately five to ten minutes. That same day, officers from the Memphis police department came to the bus station and showed Mr. Jones the photo-line up. He selected the photographs of co-defendant Blanton, appellant Quintero, and appellant Hall. Mr. Jones testified that the police never indicated to him which ones were the suspects or what they had done. Two days later, T.B.I. Agent Stout interviewed Mr. Jones and showed him the same photographic array. Again, Mr. Jones selected the same three photographs. Mr. Jones was able to identify appellant Hall in the courtroom but was unable to identify appellant Quintero. During cross-examination, the following colloquy occurred: Q. Now on the photo lineup, and let me hand this back to you, just one more question or two, on that particular lineup, how many people of Spanish descent do you see on there? A. One looks like Spanish to me. Q. And which one is that? A. That's number five. Q. And for number five then, you couldn't positively identify him other than the fact that he is Spanish? A. That's the only way I could identify him with histhe size and the way he looked, the neck, that's the only way, but just looking him straight in the face, I didn't get a chance to see him. Q. Well, then you're assuming because that was a Spanish one, that he must be the one you saw? A. I'm pretty sure that's him. Q. And you haven't seen him since? A. No, I haven't. Based on the testimony and the argument of counsel, the trial court allowed all three witnesses to testify, however, Mr. Jones was instructed not to testify about identifying appellant Quintero from the line-up since he was not actually able to see appellant Quintero's face at the bus station. At trial, when asked which photographs he was able to pick out, Mr. Jones inadvertently testified that he had picked out number one, number five, and number six. The trial court immediately instructed the jury to disregard Mr. Jones' statement concerning number five (Quintero) because the court had previously ruled that Mr. Jones could not identify number five (Quintero) from the line-up. Our Court has held on several occasions that a pre-trial identification was admissible notwithstanding the fact that the photograph of the accused contained peculiar characteristics not contained in the remaining photographs. See, e.g., Young v. State, 566 S.W.2d 895, 898 (Tenn.Crim.App.1978) (accused was only person depicted with short hairs growing from his chin); Cross v. State, 540 S.W.2d 289, 290 (Tenn.Crim.App.1976) (accused only person depicted with having an unusual hairstyle); Shye v. State, 506 S.W.2d 169, 173 (Tenn.Crim.App.1973)(accused had lighter skin and was heavier than others depicted in the remaining photographs displayed). Initially, we note that under the test set forth in Neil v. Biggers , the array was not impermissibly suggestive as to taint Mr. Jones' and Ms. Morrow's identifications of appellant Hall. Mr. Jones was able to view appellant Hall for five to ten minutes. Moreover, it was his job to monitor who came and went at the bus station. Because appellant Hall and co-defendant Blanton did not have tickets, Mr. Jones talked with the two men about their business there, giving him an even better opportunity to view appellant Hall. Mr. Jones gave an accurate description of appellant Hall, and he was shown the photo line-up the same day as the men had been to the bus station. Accordingly, Mr. Jones' identification testimony was properly admitted under the criteria set forth in Biggers . The same is true as to the testimony of Ms. Morrow, who conversed with the three men while they stood right around the cash register. Ms. Morrow testified that she thought appellant was the one that did most of the talking, and she was able to get a good look at the men. When Ms. Morrow was shown the photo line-up within the next few days, she had no trouble in identifying appellant Hall. Moreover, when identifying appellant Hall in the courtroom, Ms. Morrow noted that his face looked the same. Accordingly, we find that any suggestiveness in the photo line-up did not taint the witnesses' identification of appellant Hall. The same is not true concerning the identification of appellant Quintero. Both Mr. Jones, although he was not allowed to testify that he identified appellant Quintero, and Ms. Christof testified that one of the men was Hispanic and that they picked number five (Quintero) because he was the only Hispanic in the line-up. While Ms. Christof was able to view appellant Quintero for a few minutes, her only description of him was that he looked Mexican because of his darker skin. Moreover, Ms. Christof testified that she recognized the three men from the newspaper she had read earlier that morning. Further, from a review of the testimony, Ms. Christof's certainty as to her identification of appellant Quintero at the time of the confrontation appeared to be based on his Hispanic descent. At the jury-out hearing, Ms. Christof was unable to identify appellant Quintero in the courtroom, in fact, she did not see any Hispanics in the courtroom. Under Biggers , we find that Ms. Christof's identification of appellant Quintero in the photo line-up was unduly tainted by the suggestiveness of the photo line-up. However, given the identification of Quintero by Mrs. Morrow and the other evidence of guilt, the error of allowing Ms. Christof's identification testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Finally, we review Ms. Morrow's testimony concerning her identification of appellant Quintero. Ms. Morrow had a good opportunity to view appellant Quintero. As discussed earlier, she testified that the three men were standing around her at the cash register. Ms. Morrow testified that appellant Quintero sold her six silver dollars and that he tried to sell her a class ring. She also testified that he tried to convince her to let them stay until 11 p.m. when their ride would be there. In court, Ms. Morrow identified appellant Quintero, noting that he looked like he had lost weight and that he had not been wearing glasses when she saw him at the adult bookstore. Agent Stout testified that Ms. Morrow gave a description of the men when he interviewed her the next day. Agent Stout then showed her the photo line-up, and she immediately picked out the three men. Under Biggers , we find that Ms. Morrow's identification from the photo line-up and her in-court identification of appellant Quintero were not unduly tainted by the otherwise suggestive photo line-up.