Opinion ID: 794524
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Identification Evidence

Text: 15 As to the admission of out-of-court identifications by three witnesses, Katherine Kennedy, Stacy Rhone, and Kristiana Roth, the defendants argue that the methodology involved in the identification process was impermissibly suggestive. In particular, the defendants take issue with the fact that investigators informed the witnesses that Wilson and Dobbs were suspects before asking the witnesses to view still photographs of the men. The argument that this type of pre-identification information sharing is impermissible is based on cases that limit the use of suggestive techniques when presenting line-ups or photo arrays to eyewitnesses. See, e.g., Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 383-85, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968) (discussing limitations on suggestive identification techniques in the context of identifications by in-person eyewitnesses to a bank robbery); United States v. Williams, 340 F.3d 563, 566-67 (8th Cir. 2003) (finding that the use of a single photograph of a defendant from a prior arrest with no accompanying photographs of other persons was impermissibly suggestive where the witness viewing the photographs was an eyewitness to a controlled buy who had seen the defendant in person only one time); United States v. Patterson, 20 F.3d 801, 806 (8th Cir.1994) (finding that it was improper to use single photograph displays with eyewitnesses). In the present case, this argument is misplaced. The women who identified Wilson and/or Dobbs on the tape were not eyewitnesses being asked to recall their impression of a stranger during a short encounter in the emotionally charged context of an armed robbery. Rather, the three women who testified were individuals already acquainted with Dobbs and Wilson. When an eyewitness is shown an improper lineup or photo array, undue suggestiveness may be prejudicial because the suggestiveness may cause the eyewitness to falsely recollect the face of the person who committed the offense. 4 In contrast, when someone already familiar with a suspect is asked to comment on whether a recorded voice or image portrays the suspect, these concerns are absent. In general, a girlfriend, relative, or other acquaintance is better equipped than a juror to determine if an image on a tape is, in fact, the image of the known person. This superior ability makes such a witness, if deemed credible, a valuable aid to the jury. 16