Opinion ID: 182007
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Finding an Independent Basis for In-Court Identification under Wade

Text: The appellant challenges his convictions on the basis that the district judge made no finding under Wade as to the admissibility of the planned in-court identifications. The Supreme Court held in Wade that, where a lineup has been suppressed as unlawful, a per se rule of exclusion of courtroom identification would be unjustified. Wade, 388 U.S. at 240, 87 S.Ct. 1926. To allow a witness to make an in-court identification after an uncounseled lineup identification, however, the government must show by clear and convincing evidence that there is an independent basis for a witness's in-court identification. Id. at 240-41, 87 S.Ct. 1926; accord, Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 272, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1967); United States v. Anderson, 714 F.2d 684, 686-87 (1983); United States ex rel. Harris v. State of Illinois, 457 F.2d 191, 194 (7th Cir.1972). In Wade, the Supreme Court outlined critical factors for a court to consider in deciding whether there exists an independent basis for identification, including the prior opportunity to observe the alleged criminal act, the existence of any discrepancy between any pre-lineup description and the defendant's actual description, any identification prior to lineup of another person, the identification by picture of the defendant prior to the lineup, failure to identify the defendant on a prior occasion, and the lapse of time between the alleged act and the lineup identification. 388 U.S. at 241, 87 S.Ct. 1926; see also Anderson, 714 F.2d at 686 (applying Wade factors). The issue here, where the lineup was suppressed as unconstitutional, is whether the district court made the requisite Wade finding as to the admissibility of the in-court identifications. Although decisions to admit evidence are generally reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard, admissions of identifications are subject to a hybrid standard of review that we have described as de novo review with due deference to findings of historical fact. United States v. Harris, 281 F.3d 667, 669-70 (7th Cir. 2002). Here, the sole question is the legal one, whether the court made the requisite legal finding, so our review is de novo. Id. The government argues that the district court twice made Wade findings as to the admissibility of the in-court identification. We disagree. While the district judge twice made statements acknowledging that he would allow witnesses to make in-court identifications of West, he made no Wade finding. First, at an evidentiary hearing on an unrelated issue, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's findings and remarked that in-court identification was permissible, stating: I do not believe the government has shown that the magistrate judge's ruling is incorrect. I don't believe thatwell, the lineup should have been conducted with an attorney there, it certainly was not, but there was nothing about the lineup, the way it was conducted, to suggest that an in-court identification of the defendant would be tainted; hence, it is possible for an in-court identification to occur. In drawing that conclusion, the district court made no finding under Wade nor did it explicitly consider the relevant Wade factors. West argues that he was confused by the district court's statement as to the in-court identification and thus sought clarity on the issue before pleading guilty to the bank robberies. At the request of West's counsel at the change of plea hearing, the district judge again commented on his decision to allow an in-court identification: This is a case where witnesses were given the opportunity to identify Mr. West in a lineup. The court concluded that notwithstanding the problems with the lineup, the witnesses may testify at trial. This does not mean that is any foregone conclusion that the witnesses who testify at trial will be able to identify Mr. West, and that was one of the points I was trying to make in my ruling. Witnesses obviously will come to court and will be given an opportunity to determine whether or not they can indeed identify the defendant. The prior contact with the defendant has not been was not shown to be such that the witnesses should be precluded from being given the opportunity to view the defendant and determine if he is indeed the person they saw and the person they would implicate as one of the bank robbers. So that was the essence of the court's decision. These are the district judge's only statements about the admissibility of the in-court identification of West. Neither statement recognized that the government bore the burden of proof on the issue, and by clear and convincing evidence. The district court never made a finding that the government had shown by clear and convincing evidence that a potential in-court identification would be based on observations of the suspect other than from the in-custody lineup, and at no time were the Wade factors addressed explicitly. There simply were no findings of fact by the district court as to the admissibility of the in-court identification. The government requested that both the magistrate judge and the district judge make a Wade finding, but the fact remains that neither did so. The government argues that the district court's consideration of the Wade factors is implicit in its statements, but we disagree. The district judge's statements seem merely to be agreeing with the magistrate judge that the lineup was not unduly suggestive under Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972), rather than making a finding that there was an independent basis for the in-court identification. That analysis is not sufficient to comply with Wade. The government argues that there is sufficient reliable evidence in the complaint and witness testimony before the magistrate judge to show that there was an independent basis for an in-court identification. In essence, the government asks that this court make the Wade finding in the first instance. We decline to do so. The government argues that under United States v. Anderson , we should conduct a de novo review and look to the record, including the testimony before the magistrate judge, to find that there was an independent basis for the witnesses' in-court identifications. In Anderson, we held that even if the trial court did not resolve [the Wade issue with respect to in-court identification], such a lapse would not amount to reversible error, for it is open to this court on review to determine whether the requirements of Wade were satisfied, at least where, as here, the record on this point is adequate and was indeed carefully constructed to facilitate passage on this issue. Anderson, 714 F.2d at 687, citing United States ex rel. Harris v. State of Illinois, 457 F.2d 191, 195-96 (7th Cir.1972) (Illinois Supreme Court could make a finding of fact as to admissibility of an in-court identification where the record was adequate for such action). But this case is different from Anderson, where there was a pre-trial hearing addressing in-court identification issues and the record was carefully constructed to facilitate passage on those issues. While the district court in Anderson made no explicit Wade finding, we held that it was reasonable to infer that the judge's affirmative remark following the evidentiary hearing for that very purpose meant that there was an independent basis for an in-court identification. In those unusual circumstances, our decision in Anderson surely reached the outer boundaries of the rare practice of federal appellate fact-finding. Here, unlike in Anderson, there was no evidentiary hearing on the in-court identification issue. We are in no position to make the finding in the first instance ourselves. Accordingly, as the Supreme Court did in Wade, we vacate the defendant's convictions and remand to the district court for findings of fact under Wade as to the admissibility of in-court identifications. Depending on the outcome of that determination, the district court may reinstate the convictions or order a trial. See Wade, 388 U.S. at 242-43, 87 S.Ct. 1926.