Opinion ID: 1714125
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the circuit court erred in denying horne's motion to suppress identification testimony.

Text: ¶ 30. After a hearing, the court, in denying Horne's motion to suppress, found that, despite an effort to disguise Horne's appearance, sufficient details confirming Horne's identity were made as follows: The Court further finds that the victim, Myong Ja Son, testified that on the night of the incident that two black males came to her store. One was wearing a bandanna with a pistol and she could see his face. The other defendant was wearing a ski mask; however, she could recognize the eyes of the defendant, which were blue. She also could see his skin and his physical size, and she recognized that she knew both of the individuals as they came in her store on a daily basis and had been in there at 3:00 the afternoon of the incident. She testified that she knew the defendant by the name of Jerrian Horne and identified him in court. The Court further finds that the scene was a well-lighted convenience store and that she had reasonable time and circumstances to observe the defendants, even though one had a bandana and one had a ski mask, and that the defendant who was wearing it, whom she identified as the gunman with the rifle had blue eyes which she said she could clearly see as the mask did not cover his eyes. She could also see his body and identified him as being the one who fired the .22 rifle that struck her brother. The Court finds that after considering all of the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and the totality of the circumstances, that the Motion to Suppress the Identification Evidence be and the same is hereby denied. ¶ 31. The admission of evidence rests within the discretion of the trial court. Baine v. State, 606 So.2d 1076, 1078 (Miss.1992); Wade v. State, 583 So.2d 965, 967 (Miss.1991). A court must consider five factors in evaluating the validity, reliability and admissibility of identification testimony: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime; (2) the witness' degree of attention; (3) the accuracy of the witness' prior description of the criminal; (4) the level of certainty exhibited by the witness at the confrontation; and (5) the time between the crime and the confrontation. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199 200, 93 S.Ct. 375, 382, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); York v. State, 413 So.2d 1372, 1381 (Miss.1982). ¶ 32. The standard of review for suppression hearing findings concerning pretrial identification is whether or not substantial credible evidence supports the trial court's findings that, considering the totality of the circumstances, in-court identification testimony was not impermissibly tainted.... The appellate review should disturb the findings of the lower court `only where there is an absence of substantial credible evidence supporting it.' Ellis v. State, 667 So.2d 599, 605 (Miss.1995) (citations omitted). ¶ 33. Usually a criminal defendant challenges the first identification made of him by a victim such as during a photographic array or a line-up. Here, Horne challenges the later in-court identification of him by Ms. Su, presumably because she added some detail to her description of him. Horne does not challenge her first and second identification other than to claim, during oral argument, that the color of his eyes did not match Ms. Su's description. ¶ 34. Applying the Neil factors to the case at hand, we find as follows: