Opinion ID: 1933187
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: motion to suppress the identifications made by state's witnesses

Text: Following the shooting, Ferry described the assailant as clean-shaven. Both Allen and Walter F. Reilly, Jr. (Reilly), a regular patron of Logan's Tap, concurred in this description. In an attempt to confirm that Martinez was the individual involved in the shooting, Detective Carroll showed a photographic display to Ferry, Allen, and Reilly. Immediately before showing each of these witnesses a series of photographs containing Martinez's picture, Carroll read the following instruction from a routine-procedure manual utilized by the Providence police department: In a moment I am going to show you a group of photographs. This group of photographs may or may not contain a picture of the person who committed the crime now being investigated. Keep in mind that hair styles, beards and moustaches may be easily changed.    When you have looked at all the photos, tell me whether you see the person who committed the crime. Do not tell other witnesses that you have or have not identified anyone. (Emphasis added.) Ferry, Allen, and Reilly all chose the photo of Martinez, which depicted Martinez with a mustache. All three of these individuals testified that Carroll did not make any suggestive comments encouraging them to select Martinez's photograph. Each of the three witnesses identified Martinez as the assailant within a few seconds of viewing the photographs. Prior to trial Martinez moved to suppress the photographic identifications made by Ferry, Allen, and Reilly. The trial justice denied the motion. On appeal Martinez asserts that the admonishment read by Detective Carroll prior to showing the photographic array to the witnesses was unnecessarily suggestive. In support of his argument, Martinez points to the discrepancy between the witnesses' initial description of the assailant and Martinez's actual appearance in the photograph. Martinez avers that if Carroll had not instructed the witnesses essentially to ignore the discrepancy in facial hair, this difference may have inhibited them from identifying Martinez as the assailant. The law in this jurisdiction relating to the admissibility of an out-of-court identification is well settled: Under the two-prong test promulgated by the Supreme Court in Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977), this court must first determine whether the photographic array was unnecessarily suggestive.    If we answer this query affirmatively, our attention is then directed to an examination of the totality of the circumstances to assess the independent reliability of the identification. State v. Barnes, 559 A.2d 136, 140 (R.I. 1989); see State v. Mastracchio, 612 A.2d 698, 704 (R.I. 1992). Applying this standard to the case at hand, we are of the opinion that the photographic-identification procedure utilized by the Providence police department was not impermissibly suggestive. We agree with the trial justice's assessment that the photographic display itself was completely absent of any suggestively. Additionally we disagree with Martinez's claim that the preliminary statement read by Detective Carroll was overly prejudicial. The statement contained routine directions from a standard-procedure manual. We find that the contents of this language did not focus attention on any one defendant in the photographic array. If anything, the instructions served to protect Martinez from a faulty identification. Furthermore, all the witnesses testified that no one from the police department made any suggestive comments encouraging them to choose Martinez. Each witness's decision was made of his or her own volition and within seconds of viewing the photographic display. We are convinced that the identification procedure utilized in this case was not susceptible of suggestive misidentification. Because we conclude that the identification procedures utilized in this case were not unnecessarily suggestive, we need not reach the second prong of the Manson test regarding the reliability of each witness's identification of Martinez. For the reasons stated above, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court. The defendant's appeal is hereby denied and dismissed, and the papers in the case are remanded to the Superior Court.