Court Opinion

ID: 9695816
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:29:53.998694+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:16.748360
License: Public Domain

PRICE, Judge,
dissenting:
On December 21, 1974, appellant, at that time sixteen years old, and another youth entered Lucky’s Food Market in Philadelphia. They wandered around the store looking at items on the shelves, arousing the suspicions of the owner of the store, David Weinstein. Appellant approached one of the cashiers, sat on the counter in front of her, produced a silver pistol, and demanded the money in the cash register. He removed $1,431.00 from the register and began to flee. At this time, Mr. Weinstein who had observed the entire 3-4 minute episode, gave chase. Appellant fired one shot and Weinstein ceased his pursuit.1 The police arrived shortly thereafter and were given descriptions by Weinstein and other store employees. Weinstein described appellant as “light complected, 19, five feet ten, 165, black Jeff cap, black shoes, black pants, full length dark green raincoat, and green sunglasses.” [NT 78] An eyewitness to the robbery knew appellant by name, and on this basis appellant was arrested two days later.
On January 20, 1975, a certification hearing was held. Appellant’s counsel moved to have a line-up prior to the hearing. It was stipulated that none of the witnesses had known or seen appellant before the incident and none had seen him since the incident. The court denied the motion. Mr. Weinstein identified appellant as the *38perpetrator of the crime and appellant was certified to be tried as an adult.
Appellant filed a motion to suppress all of the identification testimony due to the suggestive confrontation at the certification hearing. At the suppression hearing, Weinstein testified that it was appellant’s suspicious behavior which first attracted his attention. He had a good opportunity to observe appellant and he had no trouble identifying him. The lower court denied the motion to suppress.
On August 18 and 19, 1975, appellant was tried before a judge sitting without a jury and found guilty of robbery, simple assault, possession of instruments of crime, and conspiracy. On appeal, appellant contends that the denial of a request for a line-up was an abuse of discretion, rendering evidence of the certification hearing identification inadmissible. Furthermore, according to appellant, this case must be remanded for a hearing to determine whether the certification hearing confrontation tainted the in-court identification. See United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); Commonwealth v. Richman, 458 Pa. 167, 320 A. 2d 351 (1974). The majority basically agrees with appellant. I believe that the majority opinion is ill-considered, and, therefore, I dissent.
A pre-trial line-up, where the witness has not seen the accused since the time of the alleged crime, is undoubtedly an excellent method of testing a witness’ ability to identify the perpetrator. It is certainly injudicious of a court to deny a request for a line-up without a very good reason for doing so. See Commonwealth v. Garland, 234 Pa.Super. 241, 339 A.2d 109 (1975). It is irresponsible of the Commonwealth to oppose such a request. However, I have concluded that there is no logical remedy for an abuse of discretion in denying a line-up. Indeed, in this case, the majority does not remedy the abuse of discretion in denying the line-up. A close reading of the *39majority opinion will reveal that it is solely the supposedly suggestive certification hearing confrontation which necessitates the majority’s decision to remand.
The majority first holds that there was an abuse of discretion in denying the lineup. Second, the court concludes that the certification hearing confrontation was unduly suggestive. Finally, if the in-court identification is determined to have been independent of the suggestive confrontation, then admission of the in-court identification was not error.
Assume, arguendo, that the majority’s second premise is not true. Assume that the certification hearing confrontation was not unduly suggestive. Then, according to the majority’s analysis, the identification testimony would be admissible. An abuse of discretion in denying a request for a line-up, under such circumstances, would be unremediable.2 The lack of a line-up identification can weaken a witness’ testimony, but is not an independent ground for relief. Therefore, the majority’s discussion of appellant’s “right” to a lineup 3 is, at most, an admonishment of the lower court, and has no substantive bearing on the resolution of this case.
The only inquiry of moment is whether the certification hearing confrontation was unduly suggestive, and, if so, whether it tainted the in-court identification. Here, *40the record demonstrates that Mr. Weinstein’s in-court identification proceeded from an independent basis. Therefore, even if the certification hearing confrontation was unduly suggestive, it was not error to admit Mr. Weinstein’s in-court identification. See Commonwealth v. Mackey, 447 Pa. 32, 288 A.2d 778 (1972).
Each time that Mr. Weinstein identified appellant, his testimony was certain and unshakeable. At the certification hearing, he identified appellant without hesitation. At the suppression hearing, he was again positive in his identification. His identification testimony at trial was as follows:
[By the district attorney:]
“Q. Is the man that you’ve named as Warren Sexton,
A. Yes.
Q. —is he in the courtroom today?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you please point him out.
A. He’s sitting right there, in the gray shirt.” [NT 45]
“Q. And is Warren Sexton in the courtroom ?
A. Yes. He’s sitting right there in the gray shirt. Q. Would you please point him out?
A. Sitting right there.” [NT 46]
“Q. Who shot at you ?
A. Warren Sexton.
Q. And is he in the courtroom today ?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you please point him out.
A. Sitting right there. Gray shirt.
Q. How far were you from him—
A. I wasn’t—
Q. —at the time you were shot?
*41A. I wasn’t too far. I would say about five feet, six feet maybe. I don’t know. So close. Because I almost hit him.” [NT 54]
“Q. —what is it that makes you conclude that this defendant is the person who was in your store and did what you have described? What makes you conclude that?
A. I can’t forget somebody who shoots on you, face. Never forget in my life.
Q. Well, what is there about it that makes you say that about him? What do you recognize about him?
A. It’s him. And then — if somebody take a shot at you, you look him straight in face, you see, what it is. You never forget the face until you die.” [NT 71]
I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that "Weinstein’s testimony at trial concerning the basis of his identification was limited and ambivalent. . . . ”
[At 797]. I believe that the record demonstrates that Weinstein’s identification testimony proceeded from a basis independent of the certification hearing confrontation. Therefore, it was properly admitted.
I would affirm the judgment of sentence of the lower court.
WATKINS, President Judge, and JACOBS, J., join this dissenting opinion.

. Mr. Weinstein was wounded in the finger. It appears, however, that he was not struck by a bullet. The record suggests that he was hit by a ricocheting piece of cement. At any rate, there is some cause to believe that the shot fired by appellant caused the wound.

. The majority’s opinion could be interpreted to mean that the denial of a line-up is only a remediable abuse of discretion when it precedes an unduly suggestive confrontation. However, once again, the true focus of such an analysis is on the suggestiveness of the confrontation.

. In Commonwealth v. Evans, 460 Pa. 313, 333 A.2d 743 (1975), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that there is no constitutional right to a line-up. The majority attempts to distinguish Evans on the ground that in this case, unlike in Evans, there was a timely request for a line-up. However, if the Supreme Court had intended its decision in Evans to turn upon whether a request had been made, a waiver analysis would have been appropriate. Instead, the court held in clear and unmistakable terms that there is no right to a line-up. Therefore, the grant of a pretrial line-up is not a matter of right, but is totally within the discretion of the court that hears the motion.