United States v. Josiah Weiss, 684 F. App'x 328

ATF agents observed what they believed was an illegal purchase of three firearms in a gun‑show parking lot; the buyer placed the guns in his car and drove away.
Agents traced the vehicle by its license plate and identified Josiah John Weiss, a six‑time felon, as the driver; booking photos were sent to agents’ cellphones.
Officers located the seller, Jerry Crawford, who said he sold three guns that day to a man known only as “Brian.”
Crawford was shown a single booking photograph of Weiss and stated, “I would say that was him”; Weiss had an alias that included the name Brian.
Weiss moved to suppress Crawford’s identification on the ground that showing a single photograph (rather than a photo array) was unduly suggestive; the district court denied the motion and Weiss was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a single‑photo identification was unduly suggestive and required suppression	Weiss: single photo is impermissibly suggestive and risks misidentification	Government: identification was reliable given circumstances and needed due to exigency	Court: identification admissible — reliability factors satisfied and exigent circumstances justified single photo

Perry v. New Hampshire, 565 U.S. 228 (2012) (due process implicated only when police use an identification procedure that is both suggestive and unnecessary)
Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98 (1977) (reliability is the linchpin for admissibility of identification testimony)
Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188 (1972) (factors to assess reliability: opportunity to view, attention, prior description accuracy, certainty, time between event and ID)
Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377 (1968) (single‑photograph IDs may be permissible when necessary due to exigent circumstances)
United States v. Lull, 824 F.3d 109 (4th Cir. 2016) (standard of review for suppression rulings: factual findings for clear error, legal determinations de novo)