Eyewitness Identification (Lineups & Photo IDs)
Rulings about lineups, photo arrays, show-ups, suggestive identification procedures, and how courts judge whether an eyewitness identification is reliable. Summaries from Criminal Defense Resources™ are general education for pro per/pro se defendants and families, not legal advice.
5 rulings, newest first.
Perry v. New Hampshire
The Court held that the Due Process Clause requires a preliminary judicial check on the reliability of an eyewitness identification only when the police arranged the suggestive circumstances. Other suggestive circumstances are left to safeguards such as cross-examination and jury instructions.
Manson v. Brathwaite
The Court held that reliability is the "linchpin" in deciding whether an identification made after a suggestive procedure can be used. Courts weigh the Biggers factors against the corrupting effect of the suggestive procedure, rather than automatically excluding the identification.
Neil v. Biggers
The Court held that even when police use a suggestive identification procedure, the identification may still be used if it is reliable under the totality of the circumstances. It listed factors: the witness's opportunity to view the person, the witness's degree of attention, the accuracy of any earlier description, the witness's level of certainty, and the time between the crime and the identification.
State v. Dessureault
The Arizona Supreme Court held that when a defendant challenges a pretrial identification, the trial court should hold a hearing outside the jury's presence. The State must show by clear and convincing evidence that the pretrial identification was not unduly suggestive, and if it was, that any in-court identification is not tainted by it.
United States v. Wade
The Court held that a post-indictment lineup is a critical stage of the prosecution at which the defendant has a right to have a lawyer present. A later in-court identification may still be allowed if the prosecution shows it has a source independent of the improper lineup.
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