Opinion ID: 460324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issues raised by sebetich

Text: 18 At trial, Officer Filoni was permitted to identify Sebetich as the man who shot at him from the pickup truck, and to testify that he had selected a photograph of Sebetich after examining a spread of five photographs some 18 months after the robbery. Sebetich challenges both portions of this testimony on due process grounds. He argues that the photo spread was suggestive because it contained the photograph that Filoni had earlier, albeit spontaneously, identified as that of his assailant. Sebetich further argues that this allegedly suggestive procedure tainted the in-court identification, and that no independent basis for that identification could exist in view of the circumstances surrounding Filoni's encounter with the pickup truck. 19 Evidence of an out-of-court identification comports with due process unless the taint of suggestiveness created a very substantial likelihood of misidentification. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 198, 93 S.Ct. 375, 381, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972). For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the out-of-court identification was not impermissibly suggestive and was properly admitted. The in-court identification could not therefore be suppressed. 20 As we have noted, the impetus for the photospread occurred some 18 months after the robbery, when Officer Filoni noticed a photograph posted on the wall in the police station. According to his testimony at the preliminary hearing, Filoni, upon seeing the photograph, immediately and spontaneously identified the man in the picture, appellant Sebetich, as his assailant. 3 Approximately two months after Filoni's spontaneous identification of the single photograph, Agent Scupien showed Filoni a spread of five photographs, including the photograph which Filoni had identified earlier. Once again, Filoni selected Sebetich's picture as that of the man who had shot him. 21 We reject Sebetich's contention that Filoni's initial viewing of the photograph tainted the later identification from the array of photos. There is no contention that, except for the complaint that the previously identified photograph of Sebetich was included, the spread was suggestive. An inspection of the spread confirms that it was a fair one containing men of similar age and appearance. 4 Filoni, faced with a number of similar photographs, might have qualified his earlier identification. At the session with Agent Scupien, however, Filoni reiterated his belief that Sebetich's photo was that of his assailant. Inasmuch as the spread contained this photograph, it could be argued to the trier of fact that it has little independent probative value, but the second identification was not thereby tainted by the first. Nor was the photospread evidence flawed by any suggestive remarks by the law enforcement officer. Thus, evidence of the out of court identifications was properly admitted. 22 Because we conclude that the out-of-court identifications were not tainted, we perforce conclude that the in-court identification of Sebetich is admissible, for the only colorable (or asserted) basis for the claim that the in-court identification is inadmissible is the supposed suggestiveness of the out-of-court identification procedures. 5 23
24 Five days before trial, Sebetich moved for permission to retain Dr. Robert Buckhout, a psychologist experienced in the subject of eyewitness identification, to testify as an expert witness concerning the anticipated identification testimony by Officer Filoni. 6 At argument on the motion, counsel for Sebetich emphasized the stressful conditions under which Filoni raced with the pickup truck and the 18-month lapse of time between the chase and Filoni's first identification of Sebetich, as circumstances about which Dr. Buckhout would testify. Although the identification testimony by Filoni was the crucial evidence in the government's case against Sebetich, the district court denied the motion, stating that it did not believe that this is such scientific, technical or specialized knowledge as would require the opinion of an expert. Fed.R.Evid. 702. 7 25 At the time of its decision, the district court did not have available our opinion in United States v. Downing, 753 F.2d 1224 (3d Cir.1985). In Downing, we held that Fed.R.Evid. 702 may permit a defendant to adduce testimony from an expert in the field of human perception and memory concerning the reliability of eyewitness identifications. We held further that the admission of this kind of expert testimony is not automatic, but must survive preliminary scrutiny by the district court. The test fashioned in Downing centers on two factors: (1) the reliability of the scientific principles upon which the expert testimony rests and hence the potential of the testimony to aid the jury in reaching an accurate resolution of the disputed issue; and (2) the likelihood that introduction of the testimony may overwhelm or mislead the jury. In addition, admission depends upon the fit, i.e., a specific proffer that the testimony will focus on particular characteristics of the eyewitness identification at issue and discuss how those characteristics call into question the reliability of the identification. Finally, we held that the district court retains discretionary authority under Fed.R.Evid. 403 to exclude evidence which, though relevant, would unduly waste time or confuse the issues at trial. 8 26 The facts of this case illustrate the potential utility of testimony such as that proposed to be given by Dr. Buckhout. Filoni testified that he saw the passenger in the pickup truck during a number of brief intervals amounting to only forty-nine seconds. These sightings occurred while Filoni was pursuing the truck at speeds of up to seventy-five miles an hour and while his life was threatened by gun fire. Indeed, the first shot from the truck entered Filoni's car and lodged in his headrest. After the third shot, Filoni allowed a distance of approximately 40 yards to open between the fleeing truck and his car. 27 Filoni thus saw his assailant under highly stressful circumstances. There is evidence that stress decreases the reliability of eyewitness identifications, contrary to common understanding. Downing, 753 F.2d at 1230. See also United States v. Smith, 736 F.2d 1103, 1105-06 (6th Cir.1984); People v. McDonald, 37 Cal.3d 351, 361-62, 690 P.2d 709, 716, 208 Cal.Rptr. 236, 245 (1984); State v. Chapple, 135 Ariz. 281, 294, 660 P.2d 1208, 1221 (1983). According to the proffer, Dr. Buckhout would also have given evidence regarding the vagaries of identifications made long after an event. A similar proffer was part of the basis for our decision in Downing. 9 28 Because the government's case against Sebetich rested exclusively on Filoni's identification, and the identification was subject to the challenges described, at the very least a preliminary Downing hearing should have been held. We will therefore vacate the judgment of conviction and remand the case for a hearing to determine the admissibility of the expert testimony according to standards set forth in Downing. 10 If the district court determines, in light of Downing, that the testimony is not admissible, it will reinstate the judgment of conviction. If the court determines that the proferred testimony is admissible, it must order a new trial as to Sebetich. See Downing, at 1243; Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 104 S.Ct. 2210, 2217, 81 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984). 29
30 Sebetich contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to test Officer Filoni's in-court identification testimony by placing Sebetich in the courtroom audience or among certain persons resembling him at the counsel table, or by staging an in-court lineup. Our inquiry is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying these motions. United States v. Edward, 439 F.2d 150, 151 (3d Cir.1971). 31 Generally the reliability of eyewitness identification is a matter for the jury. See Foster v. California, 394 U.S. 440, 442 n. 2, 89 S.Ct. 1127, 1128 n. 2, 22 L.Ed.2d 402 (1969); Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 384, 88 S.Ct. 967, 971, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968); United States v. Conway, 415 F.2d 158, 164 n. 12 (3d Cir.1969). Therefore a trial court has no obligation to stage a line-up. See United States v. Archibald, 734 F.2d 938, 941 (2d Cir.1984); United States ex rel. Clark v. Fike, 538 F.2d 750, 755-56 (7th Cir.1976) (citing United States v. Moss, 410 F.2d 386, 387 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 993, 90 S.Ct. 488, 24 L.Ed.2d 455 (1969)). However, the Second Circuit has expressed concern over the possible suggestiveness of in-court identification procedures. Archibald, 734 F.2d at 941-42; see also United States v. Brown, 699 F.2d 585, 593-94 (2d Cir.1983); Boyd v. Henderson, 555 F.2d 56, 61-62 (2d Cir.1977); Brathwaite v. Manson, 527 F.2d 363, 367 n. 6 (2d Cir.1975), rev'd on other grounds, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977) (indeed it would seem that only the apparent weakness of ... identification [where the defendant is sitting at the counsel table], along with its traditional character, saves it from condemnation as being itself impermissibly suggestive.). In Archibald, the Second Circuit stated that an in-court identification during which the defendant is seated next to defense counsel is obviously suggestive to witnesses.... 734 F.2d at 941. Therefore, in exercising its discretion the court must ensure that an in-court identification is not merely a show-up. Id. 32 However, any suggestiveness inherent in Filoni's in-court identification of Sebetich was mitigated by the presence of his three co-defendants, who were seated in adjacent chairs. Certainly, the identification in this case was less suggestive than another that this court has permitted. In United States v. Moss, supra, we held that the in-court identification of the sole member of a race present in the courtroom is proper even where the court denied the defendant's motion to bring to the courtroom prison inmates of the same race, and where the defense was unable to procure other members of defendant's race to sit with him. 410 F.2d at 387. Moreover, there was no evidence that Sebetich stood out physically from others in the courtroom. United States v. Bush, 749 F.2d 1227, 1232 (7th Cir.1984), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1771, 84 L.Ed.2d 831 (1985). The only suggestive circumstance identified by Sebetich is that he sat in front of the public, near the counsel table. This circumstance alone does not establish a violation of due process. 33 In view of the passage of five years between the robbery and the in-court identification, it might have been desirable for the district court to have allowed one of the strategems proposed by counsel for Sebetich. We recommend that these procedures be employed whenever necessary to ensure the accuracy and reliability of identifications. In most cases, they will not be unduly burdensome, and their potential benefits would, in appropriate cases, outweigh any additional time or complexity at trial. 11 See United States v. Archibald, 756 F.2d 223, 223 (2d Cir.1984) (modifying earlier opinion in the case) (where the court fears an irreparably suggestive in-court identification, the court may stage an in-court lineup or employ any other procedure to ensure the accuracy of the identification.) See also Brown, 699 F.2d at 594. However, the decision to employ such procedures is within the discretion of the district court and we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion here. 12