Opinion ID: 2629208
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Walker's Identification of Lynch

Text: Thomas implies that the State was allowed to present evidence that the police initially suspected Lynch because Walker had identified Lynch in a photomontage, while Thomas was disallowed from cross examining the investigating officers who testified on this matter. Here, Lynch had an alibi for the night of the murder. Walker was certain the man driving the van was not Geist as he testified he saw a light-skinned African American male driving the van as he chased it from Geist's house (Geist was Caucasian). Walker also estimated that the man driving the van was large and taller than Geist. This may have had a bearing on why Walker chose Lynch out of the montage since Lynch was a light-skinned African American, about six feet tall and weighed 190-200 pounds. Thomas has these same characteristics. While he identified Lynch in a photomontage, Walker was uncertain whether Lynch was the man he saw. Walker testified that Lynch looked most like the person driving the van out of any of the other people pictured in the photomontage, however, no photo of Thomas was included. Thomas also neglects to point out that he cross-examined Walker at length on his identification of Lynch in the montage as well as Geist's mention that he may be meeting up with a man named Zaheed (Lynch) sometime in the evening of March 27, 1998. Thus, the record shows that Thomas was able to present evidence of Walker's identification of Lynch by Walker's own testimony. We therefore cannot agree that Thomas's right to present evidence was violated in regard to this issue.