Opinion ID: 1808271
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pretrial and In-court Identifications of Defendant.

Text: Defendant argues that the in-court identification of him was tainted by a photographic lineup which took place at the Austin, Texas, police department following his arrest and prior to his trial in Palmer I. The record discloses that following a call from the Austin Police Department informing the Grand Island Police Department that articles stolen from the Zimmerman residence had been confiscated and a suspect arrested, a number of Nebraska investigators and Monica Zimmerman flew to Austin, Texas. Upon arriving in Austin the officer in charge of the Nebraska contingent determined that because of defendant's unusual height it would be inappropriate to have Monica Zimmerman view him in a traditional lineup. In a purported effort to alleviate the height discrepancy between defendant and the officers chosen to fill the lineup group, the officers decided to individually photograph defendant and the four officers. All five were photographed standing in front of a white wall and positioned next to a doorframe. When shown the five photographs, Monica Zimmerman immediately identified defendant as being the customer whom she had reported to the police as looking suspicious. Defendant now argues that the identification procedure used was unduly suggestive in that the relative heights of the subjects were readily determinable by reference to the strategically placed doorframe visible in each photograph. Defendant then argues that under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972), and our decision in State v. Sanchell, 191 Neb. 505, 216 N.W.2d 504 (1974), this allegedly unduly suggestive procedure, coupled with the subsequent in-court identification made by Monica Zimmerman, abridged defendant's right to due process under both the U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions. We believe that the contention is without merit. In Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of a photographic lineup. Approving the use of photographs, the Court said at 384, 88 S.Ct. at 971: [W]e hold that each case must be considered on its own facts, and that convictions based on eyewitness identification at trial following a pretrial identification by photograph will be set aside on that ground only if the photographic identification procedure was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Following its decision in Simmons v. United States, supra , the U.S. Supreme Court decided Neil v. Biggers, supra . Neil involved an eyewitness identification at trial following a police station showup of the defendant. After discussing its past due process cases, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that unnecessary suggestiveness alone does not require an exclusion of identification evidence. The Court noted that the showup could have been better conducted but found that the central question was whether under the `totality of the circumstances' the identification was reliable even though the confrontation procedure was suggestive. Neil, supra 409 U.S. at 199, 93 S.Ct. at 382. The Court then stated at 199-200, 93 S.Ct. at 382: As indicated by our cases, the factors to be considered in evaluating the likelihood of misidentification 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 description of the criminal, the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation, and the length of time between the crime and the confrontation. An examination of the photographs in this case fails to support defendant's contention that the presence of the doorframe was unduly suggestive and caused Monica Zimmerman to select defendant. In the first instance many courts have held that a suspect's distinctive appearance in a photographic display does not necessarily render the procedure suggestive. See, United States v. Mefford, 658 F.2d 588 (8th Cir.1981) (suspect was the only man in the lineup who was within age range previously described by witnesses); United States v. Smith, 602 F.2d 834 (8th Cir.1979) (suspect wearing blue overalls was only person matching description of robber); United States v. Bostic, 360 F.Supp. 1300 (E.D.Pa.1973), aff'd mem. 491 F.2d 751 (3d Cir.1973) (only suspect's photograph showed scar on forehead). It is impossible from viewing the photographs to determine how far from the wall and doorjamb each subject is standing, and, therefore, one viewing the photographs could not necessarily determine the height of the subject. Furthermore, there was testimony from one of the officers present during the photographic lineup that when Monica Zimmerman viewed the photographs, it took her only one to two seconds to eliminate from the array all of the photographs but that of the defendant. The officer's testimony was corroborated by a member of the Nebraska State Patrol who was also present. An examination of the totality of the circumstances makes it abundantly clear that the photographic array was not unduly suggestive. This assignment of error is therefore overruled.