Opinion ID: 195901
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Helpfulness

Text: 18 Rule 701 allows for the admission of lay opinion testimony only if the testimony is (a) rationally based on the perception of the witness and (b) helpful to a clear understanding of the witness's testimony or the determination of a fact in issue. Jackman challenges the admission of the testimony of his ex-wife, Hurlock and Stetson under the second prong of Rule 701, arguing that the jury was in as good a position as these three witnesses to compare the surveillance photographs to Jackman, and that therefore their testimony was not helpful. 19 The admissibility of opinion testimony identifying a defendant from surveillance photographs is an issue of first impression for this Circuit. A number of other circuits, however, have ruled in a variety of circumstances that such testimony may indeed be helpful to the jury and is therefore admissible in the trial court's discretion. 2 We agree that such testimony is admissible, at least when the witness possesses sufficiently relevant familiarity with the defendant that the jury cannot also possess, and when the photographs are not either so unmistakably clear or so hopelessly obscure that the witness is no better-suited than the jury to make the identification. See United States v. Farnsworth, 729 F.2d 1158, 1160 (8th Cir.1984) (A witness's opinion concerning the identity of a person depicted in a surveillance photograph is admissible if there is some basis for concluding that the witness is more likely to correctly identify the defendant from the photograph than is the jury.); cf. United States v. LaPierre, 998 F.2d 1460, 1465 (9th Cir.1993) (excluding opinion testimony by investigating police officer identifying defendant in surveillance photograph because defendant's appearance had not changed between time of robbery and trial and officer had never seen defendant before in person). 3 Familiarity with the defendant's appearance at the time the crime was committed would be relevant; so, too, would familiarity with the defendant in clothing similar to that worn by the person in the photograph at issue, or general familiarity with the defendant's appearance acquired over a period of time and in a variety of contexts. As the Fourth Circuit has stated: 20 [T]estimony by those who knew defendants over a period of time and in a variety of circumstances offers to the jury a perspective it could not acquire in its limited exposure to defendants. Human features develop in the mind's eye over time. These witnesses had interacted with defendants in a way the jury could not, and in natural settings that gave them a greater appreciation of defendants' normal appearance. Thus, their testimony provided the jury with the opinion of those whose exposure was not limited to three days in a sterile courtroom setting. 21 United States v. Allen, 787 F.2d 933, 936 (4th Cir.1986), vacated on the grounds, 479 U.S. 1077, 107 S.Ct. 1271, 94 L.Ed.2d 132 (1987). 22 Under these standards, the district court's admission of the testimony of Deborah Jackman, Hurlock and Stetson did not constitute an abuse of discretion. All the surveillance photographs of the Revere robber are somewhat blurred, and they show only part of the robber's face, primarily the left side from eye-level down. Furthermore, although the record does not indicate how Jackman dressed at trial, it is virtually certain that he did not appear each day wearing a bulky winter jacket and a baseball cap pulled down low over his forehead. 4 Thus, because the jury was only able to compare the grainy photographs of the Revere robber with Jackman as he appeared at trial and in the videotaped lineup, the identification by the three witnesses conceivably was of help to the jury. 23 Deborah Jackman, Hurlock and Stetson testified that they had known the defendant for extended periods of time and had seen him on multiple occasions under a variety of circumstances. Each had seen the defendant numerous times wearing a baseball cap. Deborah Jackman and Hurlock had seen him wearing a coat that resembled the coat worn by the robber. While it is true that neither Hurlock nor Stetson had seen the defendant for at least several months before the Revere robbery, and thus could not testify that they were familiar with the defendant's appearance at the precise time of the robbery, this potential weakness in their testimony did not render it inadmissible and was highlighted on cross-examination and in defense counsel's closing argument. The fact remains that all three witnesses had far more opportunity than the jury to perceive Jackman from a variety of angles and distances and under different lighting conditions. Unlike the jury, they were familiar with the defendant's carriage and posture. In sum, the witnesses' testimony was helpful to the jury and did not constitute meaningless assertions which amount to little more than choosing up sides. Fed.R.Evid. 701 advisory committee's note.