Opinion ID: 734877
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: failure to move to exclude pretrial identification evidence

Text: 8 Palmer argues that his counsel was ineffective for not moving to exclude photo and live line-up identifications of Palmer by the Circle K store clerk. Palmer argues that because the government's case against him on the Circle K robbery charge hinged entirely on the clerk's identifications, counsel's failure to challenge the identification evidence cannot be considered reasonable. See Tomlin, 30 F.3d at 1238. 9 Our review of the record convinces us that neither identification procedure was so impermissibly tainted as to give rise to a substantial likelihood of mistaken identification. United States v. Matta-Ballesteros, 71 F.3d 754, 769 (9th Cir.1995), as amended on denial of reh'g, 98 F.3d 1100 (1996). Therefore, Palmer's counsel was objectively reasonable in deciding not to move to exclude the pretrial identifications. 10 Moreover, counsel's trial strategy was to undermine the clerk's identifications with testimony by an eyewitness identification expert. Because counsel used the pretrial identification evidence in questioning the expert, his decision not to move to exclude that evidence was a reasonable trial tactic. 11