433 F.2d 1153 | D.C. Cir. | 1970
Lead Opinion
These are appeals from convictions, after trial by a jury, of two of five alleged participants in the holdup of a grocery store. Appellant Kemper was found guilty of robbery,
I
On a cold January morning, two men entered a Safeway store and, after a short period, one approached the manager, Dennis R. Bailey, at a cash register. The man asked for cigarettes and, as Bailey handed him the cigarettes, the second man approached with a drawn gun. The men took the money in the cash register and ordered Bailey to open a safe; after he complied, they helped themselves to the money inside. They then escorted Bailey toward an exit, but he managed to break away, and the two men ran from the store.
Bailey fetched the assistant manager, Keith D. Soltes, from the rear of the store in time for him to see the robbers approach a Ford parked across the street. Evidently realizing that they were being observed, they did not enter the car, but continued away on foot. The Ford also departed, chased by Soltes and a customer who wrote down its license number and was stopped a few minutes later by a police cruiser. The vehicle was owned by its then driver, Earl Brooks,
Within ten minutes after the holdup, police officers arrived at the store, and Bailey gave them descriptions of the men who had accosted him. He could not describe anyone else, and Soltes was unable to describe anyone at all. Two suspects were presented to Bailey at the store, but he stated that he did not recognize either.
At about the same time, another police officer, responding to a complaint of a housebreaking, came across Richardson in an apartment building located near the store. He was wearing only a sleeveless shirt and slacks, although it was a cold day, and the party he claimed to be looking for did not live in the building. Richardson accompanied the officer to a stationhouse,
The police then returned to the apartment building where Richardson had been found and recovered from an incinerator a hat and a raincoat fitting the description of apparel worn by one of the bandits. In a pocket of the raincoat was $92, including part of a torn dollar bill which matched another part Soltes found in the store’s cash register. In the pocket was also a package of cigarettes, of the brand requested in the store, on which Safeway’s special identifying number was stamped.
About an hour after the holdup, Bailey and Soltes came to the stationhouse, and Bailey again described his assailants. They were ushered into a room, wherein Richardson and the other three arrestees were, to ascertain whether Bailey could make an identification. All four wore the clothing in which they had been arrested, which included coats for all but Richardson, who remained in the sleeveless shirt and slacks. Bailey looked at the four but did not identify anyone;
At some point prior to this identification — the record leaves uncertain just when — Bailey was shown the raincoat found in the apartment building,
Richardson, Kemper and Burke were tried jointly.
This ruling, of course, precluded the Government from presenting evidence of Bailey’s identification of Richardson at the stationhouse.
II
Stovall recognized that an identification confrontation may be “so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that [the accused is] denied due process of law.”
During the course of the holdup, Bailey had a good opportunity to scrutinize the two men who partook of the contents of the cash register and safe.
man, which he later reiterated at the stationhouse, including approximations of his age, height and weight, and details as to the clothing he was wearing.
So also were the descriptive details Bailey supplied at the trial, which included additionally a reference to “some type of scars on his face”
Quite obviously, the trial judge’s ruling on independent source was tantamount to a general affirmation of Bailey’s credibility, and again the record lends support. At the hearing on suppression of the identification, Bailey maintained firmly, despite rigorous cross-examination, that Richardson was one of the two robbers in the store.
These circumstances provided an ample evidentiary showing that Bailey had obtained and retained a mental image of the suspect prior to the suggestive stationhouse confrontation, and that this image paralleled Richardson’s appearance quite well.
The convictions of both appellants are accordingly
Affirmed.
. D.C.Code § 22-3202 (1967).
. Id. § 22-2901.
. Id. § 3202.
. Id. § 22-502.
. See also note 16, infra.
. Brooks promptly confessed to participation in the holdup, stating that he remained in the car throughout. He implicated appellants and the others named in text.
. Testimony at trial blamed Bullock as the gunman, and cited Burke as one who was in the Ford but left before the store was entered. See note 13, infra.
. Apparently he did so voluntarily. In any event, no issue in that regard is raised.
. There is no indication that the officer suspected Richardson of complicity in the holdup until he was identified by Brooks at the stationhouse.
. Bailey testified that he did not then undertake an identification because he “wanted to make sure before I identified anyone.” The police officer conducting the confrontation testified that Bailey said that “he was almost sure the little fellow
. Bailey’s testimony suggests that this occurred before either of the two station-house viewings. Other testimony indicates, however, that the garments found at the apartment building did not arrive at the stationhouse until after the first viewing.
. The trial of Bullock, charged as the gunman in the robbery, was severed. The charges against Brooks were dropped, and he testified as a witness for the Government at appellants’ trial.
. Burke admitted at trial that he had been in the Ford, but stated that he left the group before the holdup took plaee.
. 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967).
. 388 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1967).
. This ruling is also questioned, but we need not and do not consider it. The judge’s holding that there was a due process violation gave Richardson all the relief that he could have obtained by a favorable determination on right to counsel. The Government was barred from introducing any evidence concerning the stationhouse confrontation, leaving as the only remaining inquiry the adequacy of an independent source for an in-court identification. If, as the trial judge held, the Government discharged its burden on the latter issue, the right to counsel violation, like the due process violation, was dissipated. See text infra, at note 22. Consequently, only if we reversed the trial judge’s ruling on due process would the right to counsel point become vital, and in light of our disposition of these appeals, no relief could be granted appellants were we to separately consider that point.
. 388 U.S. 293, 302, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967).
. See the cases cited infra note 21.
. See Clemons v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 27, 34, 408 F.2d 1230, 1237 (en banc 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 964, 89 S.Ct. 1318, 22 L.Ed.2d 567 (1969).
. 388 U.S. at 302, 87 S.Ct. at 1972. See also Foster v. California, 394 U.S. 440, 89 S.Ct. 1127, 22 L.Ed.2d 402 (1969) ; Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 384, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968) ; Biggers v. Tennessee, 390 U.S. 404, 88 S.Ct. 979, 19 L.Ed.2d 1267 (1968) (dissenting opinion).
. See Gilbert v. California, supra note 15, 388 U.S. at 272-273, 87 S.Ct. 1951. See also Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 45, 408 F.2d at 1248.
. Compare, e. g., Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 42-43, 44, 46-47, 408 F.2d at 1245-1246, 1247, 1249-1250; Hawkins v. United States, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 103, 105-06, 420 F.2d 1306, 1308-1309 (1969) ; Mendoza-Acosta v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 91, 92, 408 F.2d 1294, 1295 (1969) . See also Gregory v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 317, 321-322, 410 F.2d 1016, 1020-1021 (1969).
. United States v. Wade, supra note 14, 388 U.S. at 240, 87 S.Ct. at 1939. Our decisions have given this doctrine parallel operation where the confrontation involves a due process violation. E. g., Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 34, 408 F.2d at 1237.
. Ruling orally that there was an independent source permitting Bailey’s in-court identification of Richardson, see text supra after note 18, the trial judge cited only the amplitude of Bailey’s opportunity to. observe the two men who came into the store. Such an opportunity was, of course, a sine qua non of any attempted in-trial identification. Hawkins v. United States, supra note 22, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 104, 420 F.2d at 1307, and is a factor bearing vitally on independent source. See cases cited infra notes 26-28. Its sufficiency alone to sustain a finding of independent source is a very different question, Hawkins v. United States, supra, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 104-05, 420 F.2d at 1307-1308 — one we need not face in this case. We do not feel justified in assuming that just because the judge enunciated but one circumstance supporting his finding he did not consider others equally at his command. And since, in any event, we ourselves can make the determination on independent source where the record is ample for the purpose, see Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 45-46, 408 F.2d at 1248-1249; Hawkins v. United States, supra, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 104, 420 F.2d at 1307; Williams v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 185, 187, 409 F.2d 471, 473 (1969); Cunningham v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 133, 134-135, 409 F.2d 168, 169-170 (1969), we may with equal facility review the record to see whether it discloses facts which, in conjunction with those identified by a trial judge, suffice to support a finding of an independent source for an in-court identification.
. See United States v. Wade, supra note 14, 388 U.S. at 241, 87 S.Ct. 1926, for a partial listing. Our decisions have isolated additional factors. See cases cited in subsequent notes.
. Compare United States v. Wade, supra note 14, 388 U.S. at 241, 87 S.Ct. 1926 ; Clemons v. United States, supra note 19,
. Compare Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 43, 408 F.2d at 1246; Long v. United States, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 311, 424 F.2d 799 (1969) ; Hawkins v. United States, supra note 22, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 105, 420 F.2d at 1308; Frazier v. United States, 136 U.S.App.D.C. 180, 189, 419 F.2d 1161, 1170 (1969) ; Bryson v. United States, supra note 26, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 118, 419 F.2d at 700; Gregory v. United States, supra note 22, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 324, 410 F.2d at 1023; Macklin v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 139, 140, 409 F.2d 174, 175 (1969).
. Compare United States v. Wade, supra note 14, 388 U.S. at 241 n. 33, 87 S.Ct. 1926; Hawkins v. United States, supra note 22, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 105, 420 F.2d at 1308 (“some ten minutes”) ; Frazier v. United States, supra note 27, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 189, 419 F.2d at 1170 (“several minutes”) ; Bryson v. United States, supra note 26, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 118, 419 F.2d at 700 (“several minutes”) ; Gregory v. United States, supra note 22, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 324, 410 F.2d at 1023 (“three or four minutes”) ; Williams v. United States, supra note 24, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 186, 409 F.2d at 472 (six to ten minutes).
In the ease at har, Bailey testified that the man he identified as Richardson “first went around the store,” and then came over and asked for cigarettes; that that man was in the store “about three or four minutes, at the most,” before he came over for the cigarettes; that Bailey was at the safe with the two men “approximately three or four minutes”; and that from the time Bailey first observed the two men in the store until “after the safe was empty” and they left the store was “I would say 10 minutes.”
. With respect to Richardson’s approximate height and weight the description faltered, but only slightly. This circumstance is possibly explained by the fact that the suspect wore a hat and outer coat at the time of the robbery, and in any event was of too little magnitude to impair the value of the description in its relation to independent source. Compare McRae v. United States, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 80, 88, 420 F.2d 1283, 1291 (1969).
. Compare United States v. Wade, supra note 14, 388 U.S. at 241, 87 S.Ct. 1926; Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 38, 408 F.2d at 1241; Hawkins v. United States, supra note 22, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 105, 420 F.2d at 1308; Frazier v. United States, supra note 27, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 189, 419 F.2d at 1170; Bryson v. United States, supra note 26, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 116, 419 F.2d at 698; Gregory v. United States, supra note 22, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 324, 410 F.2d at 1023; Dade v. United States, supra note 26, 132 U.S.App.D.C. at 231 n. 3, 232, 407 F.2d at 694 n. 3, 695. See also McRae v. United States, supra note 29, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 88, 420 F.2d at 1291.
. The police record of the description Bailey furnished them did not mention the scar, or the fact, which Bailey testified to at trial, that the suspect wore tinted glasses during the robbery. These omissions loom a bit larger when it is seen that the record of Bailey’s description of the other robber was more complete, and
. Compare Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 43, 408 F.2d at 1246; Cunningham v. United States, supra note 24, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 134, 409 F.2d at 169; Dade v. United States, supra note 26, 132 U.S.App.D.C. at 232 n. 6, 407 F.2d at 695 n. 6.
. The size of the scar is not shown by the record, but Richardson, while in the witness chair, was requested to “turn your face and demonstrate” the scar to the jury, which he did. This would seem to indicate that the scar was not prominent.
. Compare Gregory v. United States, supra note 22, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 324, 410 F.2d at 1023; Williams v. United States, supra note 24, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 187, 409 F.2d at 473.
. Compare Hawkins v. United States, supra note 22, 137 U.S.App.D.C. at 106, 420 F.2d at 1309; Cunningham v. United States, supra note 24, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 134, 409 F.2d at 170.
. We are mindful that only an hour after the holdup Bailey hesitated in making his stationhouse identification of Richardson, and did so positively only after returning to view the suspects a second time, with appellant then wearing the hat and raincoat found at the apartment building. The impact of these circumstances is dissipated, however, by Bailey’s explanation that he “wanted to make sure before I identified anybody.” Compare Cunningham v. United States, supra note 24, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 134-135, 409 F.2d at 169-170 (failure to identify accused on prior occasion due to fright after receiving threat). See also Long v. United States, supra note 27, (failure to tell police of prior confrontation). By the trial judge’s assessment, the police officer conducting the stationhouse confrontation “was right” in saying that Bailey “was almost sure of the fellow, but he didn’t completely recognize him without the coat” the first time.
. See text supra at note 23.
. See Clemons v. United States, supra note 19, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 33, 38, 39, 408 F.2d at 1237, 1241, 1242; Frazier v. United States, supra note 27, 136 U.S.App.D.C. at 189, 419 F.2d at 1170 n. 42.
. Compare Gregory v. United States, supra note 22, 133 U.S.App.D.C. at 325, 410 F.2d at 1024. See also Simmons v. United States, supra note 20, 390 U.S. at 384, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247.
. As we have pointed out, Kemper’s contentions were based in the' first instance upon the same allegation of error that as to Richardson we find wanting. We need not, of course, consider whether Kemper could prevail on his claim had we found that allegation of error acceptable.
Concurrence Opinion
(concurring):
The District Court ruled that witness Bailey’s stationhouse confrontation with appellant Richardson was “unnecessarily suggestive,”
. Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 302, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967).
. See Williams v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 185, 409 F.2d 471 (1969); Cunningham v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 133, 409 F.2d 168 (1969) ; Bryson v. United States, 136 U.S.App.D.C. 113, 120, 419 F.2d 695, 702 (1969) (Burger, J. concurring and dissenting) : “Since the witnesses had a prior opportunity to observe, there was plainly an independent source for the in-court identifications.” Cf. majority opinion at 1157-1158 supra.
. Among the pre-lineup tests of a witness’ recollection which comport with Wade are (1) an accurate description given by the witness shortly after the incident, see, e. g., Bryson v. United States, supra note 2, at 116, 419 F.2d at 698; Gregory v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 317, 324, 410 F.2d 1016, 1023 (1969) ; Clemons v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 27, 40, 408 F.2d 1230, 1243 (1969) ; and (2) the selection of the suspect’s picture in a properly conducted photo-identification, see, e. g., Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968); Bryson v. United States, supra, at 118, 419 F.2d at 700; Clemons v. United States, supra, at 43, 408 F.2d at 1246; and (3) recognizing the suspect in a chance meeting, see, e. g., Long v. United States, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 137, 311, 424 F.2d 799, 803 (No. 22,218; Dec. 18, 1969) ; Clemons v. United States, supra, at 41, 408 F.2d at 1244. But see Mason v. United States, 134 U.S.App.D.C. 280, 414 F.2d 1176 (1969).
. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 240, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967).
. Id. at 241, 87 S.Ct. at 1940. The Wade Court suggested “opportunity to observe” as one example of a “factor” in determining whether an “independent source” exists. Compare 388 U.S. at 241, 87 S.Ct. 1926, with the topic headings in Chapter IV (“Danger Signals” of erroneous identifications), P. Wall, Eye-Witness Identification in Criminal Cases (1965). An “opportunity to observe” supplies the “source” for an identification, but under Wade a court must still determine whether there are reliable indications that the source is “independent” and untainted. Wall does not suggest that an “opportunity to observe” shows that an identification has not been contaminated by a suggestive procedure; his work is peppered with references to unreliable identifications springing from inadequate opportunities to observe the suspect, see, e. g., id. at 16, 20-22, 68, 85, 92-95, 112, 114-115, 125-128, 189-190, 194-197, 209-210, and he also reports “frequent” cases of misidentification based on “observations [made] under favorable conditions.” Id. at 7.