Court Opinion

ID: 9619269
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:25:21.350076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:53.818223
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Justice
(Concurring in the Result):
I concur in the majority’s holding because it follows established precedent in deferring to the discretion of the trial court. I write separately, however, to emphasize that this is the kind of case where an instruction on the dangers of eyewitness identification is most appropriate. As the majority notes, “The only evidence linking defendant to the crime was the eyewitness identification of the [sole] victim.” The statistical probabilities of error and injustice in such a case, as distinguished from one where there is some corroboration of the identification, are so great that I believe the trial court’s discretion should be routinely exercised in favor of giving the instruction. See State v. Malmrose, Utah, 649 P.2d 56 (1982) (Stewart, J., dissenting).
STEWART, J., concurs in the concurring in the result opinion of Justice Durham.