Opinion ID: 1956189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Identification Testimony.

Text: The parties agree that our review on the identification issues is de novo. Shortly after the thefts, Thornton was identified by several witnesses from a photo array. Then, just before the trial, Thornton requested, and received, a lineup at which he was again identified. Thornton challenges both the photographic and lineup identifications. Under the tests adopted by the United States Supreme Court, reliability is the linchpin in determining the admissibility of identification testimony. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 2253, 53 L.Ed.2d 140, 154 (1977). According to the Court, the factors to be considered in assessing reliability include the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the witness' degree of attention, the accuracy of his prior description of the criminal, the level of certainty demonstrated at the confrontation, and the time between the crime and the confrontation. Against these factors is to be weighed the corrupting effect of the suggestive identification itself. Id. We reject Thornton's claim that the lineup was impermissibly suggestive. While the subjects at the lineup ranged in age and size, they were reasonably similar to Thornton and provided a reasonably close array of subjects. Applying the Supreme Court's test, we conclude that the court properly admitted the identification evidence based on both the photo array and the lineup. The witnesses who identified Thornton were close to the perpetrator at the time the purses were taken, and in each case, their attention was focused on him. As to the level of certainty expressed by the witnesses, two of them picked out Thornton's picture from a six-picture array within two hours of the crime. In one case, the witness identified Thornton after only a couple seconds. None of the witnesses showed any hesitation in making the identification.