Opinion ID: 391423
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Photospread Identification

Text: 19 The final issue on appeal is whether appellant Young was deprived of his right to a fair and impartial trial in that the photospread was impermissibly suggestive. Carol Blackmon testified at trial that she had identified Raymond Young from an FBI photospread as one of the individuals involved in the robbery. The photospread had been composed exclusively of photographs of individuals believed by the FBI to have been involved in the robberies. Young was the only bald individual depicted in the photospread. Blackmon also made an in-court identification of Young and testified that she had seen him on two prior occasions: first, in the car on the drive to and from the credit union prior to the robbery for approximately 30 to 40 minutes; and second, for nearly an hour when Young sat next to her while driving to her house immediately following the robbery. 20 Convictions based on eyewitness identification at trial following a pretrial identification by photograph will be set aside on that basis only if procedures used in the photospread were so impermissibly suggestive that they created a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 384, 88 S.Ct. 967, 971, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968); United States v. Smith, 602 F.2d 834, 837 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 902, 100 S.Ct. 215, 62 L.Ed.2d 139 (1979). Thus the crucial inquiry is the reliability of Blackmon's identification. That reliability is to be determined from the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Smith, supra, 602 F.2d at 837. Factors to be weighed in making that determination include: the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime; the witness' degree of attention; the accuracy of the witness' prior descriptions and the length of time between the crime and confrontation. United States v. Anderson, 618 F.2d 487, 491-92 (8th Cir. 1980). In Anderson, we upheld an identification by several witnesses who had only ten minutes to observe the defendant. There, only one photograph was shown to witnesses approximately ten days after the crime had been committed. Here Blackmon had ample opportunity to observe defendant Young. Not only was she in a car with him on two separate occasions, each of several minutes duration, he was also present in her home immediately following the robbery. Blackmon identified Young's photograph approximately three months after the robbery occurred and later again at trial. Her testimony indicates she felt certain of her identification. In view of the circumstances we cannot say that the photospread was so suggestive as to create a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Simmons v. United States, supra, 390 U.S. at 384, 88 S.Ct. at 971; United States v. Anderson, supra, 618 F.2d at 492; United States v. Mears, 614 F.2d 1175, 1177 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 945, 100 S.Ct. 2174, 64 L.Ed.2d 801 (1980). 21 Accordingly, the judgments of conviction of appellants Richardson and Young are reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.