Opinion ID: 757025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Identification

Text: 132 Both Salameh and Abouhalima challenge the admission of pretrial and in-court identification evidence after a witness incorrectly identified two jurors as Salameh and Abouhalima. Specifically, Salameh and Abouhalima contend that it was improper to allow the government to introduce the bewildered witness's pretrial identification of Salameh and Abouhalima and his subsequent, accurate in-court identification. This is one of the more compelling arguments. 133 On the morning of the bombing, Willie Hernandez Moosh was working as a gas station attendant in Jersey City. At trial, Moosh testified through a Spanish interpreter. He said that between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., on February 26, 1993, a yellow Ryder van and a navy blue Lincoln Continental entered Moosh's gas station together. Moosh described the passenger of the Ryder van as having a horse face and black hair, and the driver of the Lincoln as a husky, white man with orange colored hair, freckles and a light beard. Moosh said that the two men told him to fill up their vehicles with gas. 134 Moosh stated that, after he filled up the tanks, the driver of the Lincoln paid for both vehicles. Moosh recounted that the two vehicles began to drive away but stopped when a police car happened to drive by the station. At that point, the passenger of the Ryder van got out, raised the hood of the van and asked Moosh for some water. Moosh fetched the water, but he remembered that the water was never used. 135 At trial, Moosh identified a photograph of Yousef as the horse face passenger in the Ryder van. The government then asked Moosh if he saw the driver of the Lincoln in the courtroom, and Moosh stepped down from the witness stand, pointed at the jury box to one of the jurors, and said, [i]t was a person such as this one. After Moosh returned to the stand, the government asked him if he saw the driver of the Ryder van in the courtroom. Again, Moosh left the witness stand, pointed to another juror, and said, [a] person such as this one. 136 At sidebar, the government stated its intention to rehabilitate the witness by presenting evidence of Moosh's prior identification of Salameh and Abouhalima from photo arrays shown to him by the FBI shortly after the bombing. Defense counsel objected, but--significantly--did not request a hearing to determine whether the prior identification of the photo arrays was unduly suggestive. Judge Duffy admitted the photo arrays under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(C). Salameh's counsel preferred that all the arrays shown to Moosh be admitted, not just the two from which Moosh had identified Salameh and Abouhalima. All the arrays were then admitted. 137 When Moosh earlier identified the defendants from the photo arrays, he signed statements affirming that the men he selected in the arrays were the men he saw at the gas station on the morning of the bombing. Before the arrays were admitted into evidence, the government attached these statements to each of the two arrays containing the photographs of Salameh and Abouhalima. No objection was made. 138 Moosh testified that approximately one week after the bombing of the World Trade Center, he saw a picture of Salameh in a newspaper and recognized him as one of the men who bought gas on the morning of the bombing. Moosh then recounted his meeting with the FBI, during which he identified the driver and passenger of the Ryder van, and the driver of the Lincoln, from the photo arrays. The government then showed Moosh the photo arrays, including those containing photos of Salameh and Abouhalima. Moosh identified the exhibits as the arrays he had reviewed and confirmed that the statements attached to those arrays bore his signature. 139 At that point, trial was adjourned for the day. After the jury was excused and Moosh left the witness stand, Moosh pointed out Abouhalima to his interpreter and said, that Rubio [meaning, in Spanish, a blond or red-haired person] in the corner ... that is him. The interpreter related Moosh's statement to Judge Duffy and the government. The next morning, the government informed Judge Duffy and defense counsel that, when cross-examination was completed, it planned on redirect to elicit Moosh's observations about Rubio. 140 On cross-examination by Salameh's counsel, Moosh testified that he might have been incorrect the day before when he identified the juror as the driver of the Ryder van. Moosh said that the driver actually looked more like the defendant Salameh. Moosh walked over to Salameh, stood next to him, and said, Yes, it's him.... He was this gentleman who came. Yes, because now I can see him closer up and I can concentrate more. 141 On redirect examination by the government, Moosh explained that he recognized Abouhalima in court on the prior evening. On recross, Moosh explained that he had not looked around the room carefully the day before and he recognized Abouhalima for the first time as he was leaving the stand. 142 On appeal, Salameh and Abouhalima stress that the trial judge committed reversible error by admitting the photo arrays and Moosh's subsequent in-court identifications. First, Salameh and Abouhalima claim that the photo array was unduly suggestive and used improperly to refresh Moosh's recollection. Second, Salameh and Abouhalima contend that because Judge Duffy improperly allowed the government to prompt the witness to change his identification, the in-court identifications of Salameh and Abouhalima were tainted and prejudicial. 143 We review a district court's decision to admit identification evidence for clear error. Jakobetz, 955 F.2d at 803.
144 A prior identification is admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(1)(C), regardless of whether the witness confirms the identification in-court. See United States v. Simmons, 923 F.2d 934, 950 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Lewis, 565 F.2d 1248, 1251-52 (2d Cir.1977). A prior identification will be excluded only if the procedure that produced the identification is so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [the defendant] was denied due process of law. Simmons, 923 F.2d at 950 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted; alteration in original). A district court's decision to admit a prior identification is entitled to deference and will not be disturbed absent clear error. See Jakobetz, 955 F.2d at 803. 145 The district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the photo array as evidence of a prior identification. As an initial, but important, matter, defendants waived their right to challenge the prior identification. The government provided the defendants with the photo arrays before trial and advised them that the arrays were used by the FBI to elicit identifications of the defendants. However, no defendant sought to suppress the arrays. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(3) (motion to suppress must be raised prior to trial). 146 Moreover, neither Salameh nor Abouhalima requested a Wade hearing pursuant to United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967), to assess whether the photo arrays were unduly suggestive. Therefore, that claim was waived. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(f) (Failure by a party to raise defenses or objections ... which must be made prior to trial ... shall constitute waiver thereof.); United States v. Gomez-Benabe, 985 F.2d 607, 611 (1st Cir.1993). 147 Finally, putting aside the waiver issue, Salameh and Abouhalima have failed to demonstrate that the photo arrays were unduly suggestive. Each array consisted of six black and white photographs depicting men very similar in appearance to each other. None of the arrays met the standard for suppression on the ground of suggestiveness. See United States v. Gibson, 135 F.3d 257, 260 (2d Cir.1998) (per curiam); United States v. Bautista, 23 F.3d 726, 731 (2d Cir.1994). 148 Salameh and Abouhalima now cavil that it was improper to attach Moosh's written statements to two of the photo arrays. First, no defendant objected to this evidence. Second, they have not shown that the attachment of the prior statements, viewed in the totality of the circumstances, was conducive to irreparable mistaken identification. Simmons, 923 F.2d at 950 ([E]ven a suggestive out-of-court identification will be admissible if, when viewed in the totality of the circumstances, it possesses sufficient indicia of reliability.).
149 The trial court did not err by admitting Moosh's subsequent in-court identifications of Salameh and Abouhalima. 150 A witness who identified a defendant prior to trial may make an in-court identification of the defendant if: (1) the procedures giving rise to the pretrial identification were not unduly suggestive; or (2) the in-court identification is independently reliable, even though the pretrial identification was unduly suggestive. See, e.g., United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1359 (2d Cir.1994) (citing Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977); Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d 34, 42 (2d Cir.1986)). The reliability of an in-court identification is determined by weighing the degree of suggestiveness of [the pretrial procedures] against 'factors suggesting that [the] in-court identification may be independently reliable rather than the product of the earlier suggestive procedures.'  United States v. Ciak, 102 F.3d 38, 42 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 973 (2d Cir.1990) (citations omitted; second alteration in original)). Factors suggesting reliability include: the witness's opportunity to view the defendant during the crime; the witness's degree of attention; the accuracy of the witness's pre-identification description of the defendant; the level of certainty demonstrated at the identification; and the time between the crime and the identification. Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243. 151 Although the government cannot properly endeavor to manufacture an identification where none existed, it may use a photo array to attempt to refresh a witness's recollection. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 975-76. Such a procedure is appropriate provided there is a foundation for believing that the witness once had knowledge of the fact as to which his recollection is to be refreshed. Id. at 976. 152 As discussed above, Salameh and Abouhalima failed to demonstrate that Moosh's prior identification was based on unduly suggestive procedures. Accordingly, any question regarding the reliability of Moosh's identifications goes only to the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility. 153 Even assuming, arguendo, that the photo arrays were unduly suggestive, the in-court identification was admissible because it was independently reliable. Moosh testified that he had seen and spoken with Salameh and Abouhalima when he pumped gas for them on the fateful morning. He independently recognized Salameh's photograph in the newspaper and accurately described both Salameh and Abouhalima to the FBI. There is no suggestion that Moosh was equivocal during his FBI interview, including when he identified Salameh and Abouhalima from the photo arrays. Furthermore, the pretrial identification occurred shortly after the bombing. See id. 154 Moreover, the jury witnessed the botched, and subsequently corrected, in-court identification. The jurors could determine for themselves the credibility of Moosh's subsequent identification based on this evidence.