Opinion ID: 460324
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The District Court's Refusal to Permit the Defendant's Proposed In-Court Identification Strategems

Text: 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