Court Opinion

ID: 9732801
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:36:15.907598+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:34.316263
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH, dissenting: I dissent. I agree with the majority opinion of the appellate court and would remand the cause for a new trial. The majority concedes that the suppression of Buckle’s lineup identification of Ryder was proper and disposes of the question whether Buckle’s lineup identification of Curtis should also have been suppressed by holding that the error, if any, was harmless. It condones the use of a photograph of the lineup, admittedly unconstitutional (Kirby v. Illinois (1972), 406 U.S. 682, 689, 32 L. Ed. 2d 411, 417, 92 S. Ct. 1877, 1882), as the basis of the identification of defendants by the witness Harris. No reason is shown for Harris’ failure to attend one of the lineups or why another could not have been arranged. Concerning the use of photographs under these circumstances, this court said in People v. Kubat (1983), 94 Ill. 2d 437: “There is, of course, no constitutional impediment to the use of photographs in the initial identification, despite the recognition that there is a risk of misidentification when the procedures are improperly employed. (Simmons v. United States (1968), 390 U.S. 377, 385-86, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1247, 1254, 88 S. Ct. 967, 972.) When properly used, this technique ‘is indispensable in the investigatory phase of a criminal case.’ (People v. Jackson (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 143, 147.) When a suspect is in custody, however, and a lineup is otherwise feasible, this court has generally disapproved of the use of photographs as a basis of identification, absent extenuating circumstances justifying their use. People v. Williams (1975), 60 Ill. 2d 1, 9; People v. Jackson (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 143, 147-48; People v. Holiday (1970), 47 Ill. 2d 300, 306-07.” 94 Ill. 2d 437, 471. There are no “extenuating circumstances” shown here, and there is no justification for the use of the photograph in making the identification. The majority recognizes that an in-court identification which follows, an uncounseled lineup may not be admitted unless the State can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identification was based upon observations of the suspect other than the lineup identification. In my opinion the People failed to adduce such clear and convincing evidence. Buckle was hesitant in making the identification, and it was only after an examination of photos and the lineup that he did so. Furthermore, defendant Ryder was the only man in the lineup whose photograph was among those submitted to Buckle before the lineup. So far as can be determined by the record, the only photo of a participant in the lineup included in the photos shown Harris was that of Curtis. The suggestive effect of including the photo of only one participant in the lineup in the array shown the witness is obvious. The appellate court noted: “[T]he prosecutor opportunistically elicited testimony from Buckle that he had identified defendants at the lineups, which were held in violation of defendants’ constitutional rights. Moreover, the prosecutor showed Harris the lineup photographs at trial and elicited testimony from Harris that she had seen the lineup photographs on February 23, 1981, and identified defendants at that time from the lineup photographs. The lineup photographs were then admitted into evidence. Plainly, this testimony and evidence were the direct results of the unconstitutional lineups, obtained by the prosecutor’s exploitation of the primary illegality.” (132 Ill. App. 3d 241, 252.) Defendants did not receive a fair trial, and the cause should be remanded in accordance with the judgment of the appellate court.