Opinion ID: 853633
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: A Tainted Identification?

Text: Hardiman next argues it was error to let Gillespie identify him in court because her testimony was tainted by an impermissibly suggestive pre-trial photo array. [1] The State responds by saying the prior identification was not suggestive and that Gillespie had an independent basis for identifying Hardiman. Roughly one month after Terrell was shot, police approached Gillespie concerning identification of the shooter, but she responded that she had seen nothing. She later justified this silence by asserting that she feared retribution for assisting the police. Not until November did she come forward with information regarding the murder, and she subsequently identified Hardiman. After she had selected Hardiman's photo, detective Spurgeon informed her that she had identified the man the police believed shot Terrell. Asserting that this was an impermissibly suggestive procedure, Hardiman moved in limine to suppress Gillespie's in-court identification. The trial court denied the motion. It is certainly possible that a pre-trial identification may occur in a manner so impermissibly suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that permitting the witness to identify the defendant at trial may violate due process of law. Young v. State, 700 N.E.2d 1143 (Ind.1998). On the other hand, a witness who participates in an improper pre-trial identification procedure may nevertheless identify the defendant in court if the totality of the circumstances shows convincingly that the witness has an independent basis for the in-court identification. Id. Factors to be considered in making this determination include the amount of time the witness was in the presence of the perpetrator, the distance between the two, the lighting conditions, the witness' degree of attention to the perpetrator, the witness' capacity for observation, the witness' opportunity to perceive particular characteristics of the perpetrator, the accuracy of any prior description of the perpetrator by the witness, the witness' level of certainty at the pre-trial identification, and the length of time between the crime and the identification. Utley v. State, 589 N.E.2d 232, 238 (Ind.1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1058, 113 S.Ct. 991, 122 L.Ed.2d 142 (1993). Hardiman argues that the policeman's statement following Gillespie's identification was unduly suggestive. We need not decide whether the events that transpired after the lineup violated Hardiman's Fourteenth or Sixth Amendment rights, however, because we are satisfied that the totality of the circumstances clearly and convincingly demonstrates that Gillespie had an independent basis for identifying Hardiman at trial. Gillespie testified that she had been in Hardiman's company before the incident, that she witnessed the verbal confrontation, that she was seated directly across from the victim's vehicle at the time of the shooting, and that she saw Hardiman take out the weapon and fire it. Moreover, Gillespie expressed certainty in her pre-trial identification before any possible suggestive influence arose. The trial court did not err. The events of Gillespie's pre-trial identification were fully explored on cross-examination. It was up to the jury to determine what weight to give Gillespie's in-court identification in light of her earlier lack of cooperation. Harris v. State, 619 N.E.2d 577 (Ind.1993).