Opinion ID: 2313014
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Accuracy of the Description

Text: Even though each witness's view of defendant during the crimes on the day of his identification lasted less than one minute, the descriptions were nearly identical and were so accurate that the police were able to locate and detain defendant within a matter of hours after the initial confrontations. Both women described defendant as a black male, lean in build, approximately five-feet-six to five-feet-nine-inches tall, having a rough-looking, untrimmed beard and mustache and wearing a knitted maroon-wool winter hat, a white T-shirt, and either gray or dark pants. In addition Mrs. Munoz described the stranger as being about twenty-five years old, and Mrs. Saunders added that he had brown eyes. These descriptions strongly support the reliability of the identifications. Their detail shows that the witnesses did indeed have a high degree of attention focused on defendant and that both witnesses had a sufficient opportunity to view defendant so as to make a reliable identification several hours later despite the short duration of their views.