Brief Fact Summary. A suggestive identification was challenged as violative of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution (“Constitution”).
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The criteria laid out below are to be applied to witness identifications.
Issue. Whether the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution compels the exclusion, in a state criminal trial, apart from any consideration of reliability, of pretrial identification evidence obtained by a police procedure that was both suggestive and unnecessary?
Held. Reliability is the linchpin in determining the admissibility of identification testimony. Factors to be considered include the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the degree of attention paid by the witness, accuracy of the prior description, level of certainty, and the time between the crime and the confrontation. These factors should be weighed against the effect of the suggestive identification itself.
It is the likelihood of misidentification which violates a defendant's right to due process.
View Full Point of Law