Opinion ID: 577111
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admissibility of Photographic Identification

Text: 98 Jakobetz also alleges error in the district court's decision to allow the victim to testify that she had identified Jakobetz from a photographic display about a month after he had kidnapped and assaulted her. He bases his claim on two separate grounds. 99 Jakobetz first contends that the use of his photograph in the array was improper because the photograph was wrongfully acquired, a circumstance that he likens to an illegal seizure. The photograph had been obtained from the files of the New York State police, who had possession of the photograph from an earlier investigation of unrelated charges. The state eventually dismissed those charges. Although under New York law, a court must issue an order directing that all photographs and other items belonging to a former defendant be returned to that defendant upon the termination of an action, N.Y.Crim.Proc.Law § 160.50, no such order was issued after the state prosecution against Jakobetz was concluded. Jakobetz now claims that because the photographs should not have remained in the possession of New York authorities, their continued possession constituted an illegal seizure, requiring application of the exclusionary rule to suppress any evidence that resulted from such seizure. He argues the New York court completely abandoned its judicial role. See United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 914, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 3416, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). 100 Although Jakobetz asserts a novel argument, we do not think that the seizure alleged is one that deserves the special protections provided by the fourth amendment. There is no authority to indicate that Jakobetz's constitutional rights have been violated. At most, Jakobetz may be able to argue that a New York court violated a statutory right under New York law. Cf. N.Y.Crim.Proc.Law § 160.50. 101 In addition, we agree with the government that the federal law enforcement officials who investigated this case did not act with any willful intent. Since the exclusionary rule is designed to deter police misconduct, see Leon, 468 U.S. at 916, 104 S.Ct. at 3417, there would be no purpose in applying the rule to this case, where there was no such misconduct. The record suggests that the law enforcement officials involved in this case were not even aware of the requirement that the photograph be returned to Jakobetz. The only error here was the failure of the New York court to issue a timely order to return the photograph--an oversight that does not offend the fourth amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. 102 Jakobetz then contends that the photo array should have been excluded because it was unduly and impermissibly suggestive. The victim had initially described her kidnapper as a white male with no facial hair or sideburns. The photographic lineup contained pictures of six men, each of whom had a moustache, with Jakobetz's being the least prominent. As a result, Jakobetz argues, the victim was suggestively and impermissibly led to select his picture, because it depicted a person who was the closest to her description of a man with no facial hair. 103 We see no error here. A district court's determination as to the admissibility of identification evidence should be reversed only upon a showing of clear error. See United States v. DiTommaso, 817 F.2d 201, 213 (2d Cir.1987). Identification evidence must be suppressed if the display was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [the defendant] was denied due process of law. Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 302, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 1972, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967). In other words, the test is whether the picture of the accused, matching descriptions given by the witness, so stood out from all of the other photographs as to suggest to an identifying witness that [that person] was more likely to be the culprit. Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d 34, 41 (2d Cir.1986) (brackets in original). 104 In this case, the district court specifically held that no due process violation had occurred. It found that the photo array consisted of six photographs depicting male Caucasians of approximately the same height and hair features; that at least three of them, including Jakobetz, had very similar builds; and that all six had moustaches but no beards. The court stated: 105 [T]o be sure, defendant's moustache does appear to be smaller than the others. This fact alone, however, does not rise to the level of impermissible suggestiveness. The court does not believe that the victim's description of a man with no facial hair causes defendant's photograph with a thinner moustache to stand out from all the others. 106 The victim had testified that it was not the thinner moustache which had caused her to identify Jakobetz's photograph, but rather, his facial and bodily features as a whole. Finally, the court was impressed with the high degree of certainty the victim displayed in selecting Jakobetz's photograph. These findings, which are not clearly erroneous, provided the court with sufficient indicia of reliability to overcome any concern that the photographic lineup may have been unnecessarily suggestive. See United States v. Bubar, 567 F.2d 192, 197 (2d Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 872, 98 S.Ct. 217, 54 L.Ed.2d 151 (1977). See also DiTommaso, 817 F.2d at 213.