[Download] "People State New York v. Robert Smith" by Supreme Court of New York * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People State New York v. Robert Smith
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 29, 1974
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 64 KB
Description
Although showups are generally disfavored, testimony of an identification made at a showup need not be suppressed unless it is found, upon consideration of the totality of circumstances, that the confrontation "was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [the defendant] was denied due process of law." (Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 302; People v. Logan, 25 N.Y.2d 184.) We do not believe that such finding can be made in this case. The witness, after first giving the police a description of her assailants, was permitted to view them at a time when the other victim of the crime was in the hospital and just 45 minutes after the events had occurred. Hence, the identification was made when the witness memory was freshest, a procedure which tended to insure that the identification emanated from the witness own observations made during the commission of the crime. Moreover, other than permitting the defendant and co-defendant to be viewed while they were apparently alone in a room, the testimony at the hearing did not indicate that the police otherwise made any suggestive comments relative to the identification nor in any way influenced the witness. In any event, although we need not reach this issue, we find that the evidence was sufficient to establish that the witness could make an in-court identification based upon her observations at the time of the commission of the crime, and untainted by the subsequent station house confrontation. The testimony established that the crime was committed in broad daylight; that the events took several minutes; and that the witness was only several feet away from the defendant. Although the trial court did not find it necessary to reach this issue, the defendant having had a full and fair hearing, this court may now make the appropriate findings. (People v. Denti & Sarcinella, 44 A.D.2d 44.)