People v. Perkins

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Defendant was identified as a suspect in several gunpoint robberies and was included in lineup identification procedures. Defendant moved to suppress the identification procedures, arguing that the lineups were unduly suggestive. Supreme Court granted the motion with respect to two victims but denied it with respect to the other two victims. After a trial, the jury convicted Defendant of the counts with respect to two victims. The Appellate Division affirmed. At issue in this case was whether the lineups were unduly suggestive because Defendant had a different hairstyle than some or all of the fillers. The Court of Appeals reversed and granted Defendant’s motion to suppress the line-up identifications, concluding that there was no record support for the lower courts’ denial of suppression for the latter two victims, as a witness’s failure to mention a distinctive feature in his or her initial description is not necessarily the determinative factor in assessing a lineup’s suggestivity, and therefore, both lineups should have been suppressed. View "People v. Perkins" on Justia Law