NCJ Number
115548
Journal
Hofstra Law Review Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1987) Pages: 583-607
Date Published
1987
Length
25 pages
Annotation
After addressing the creation of the U.S. Supreme Court's due process standard for criminal identifications, this note examines the Court's dismantling of this standard and the effect it has had on lower Federal Courts.
Abstract
The Federal standard is contrasted with the New York State constitutional standard for criminal identifications. Twenty years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the landmark trilogy of pretrial identification cases: U.S. v. Wade, Gilbert v. California, and Stovall v. Denno. These cases established that the denial of counsel to a defendant appearing in a pretrial identification constitutes a violation of the sixth amendment right to counsel and that suggestive identification procedures could violate due process rights. After a series of cases culminating in Manson v. Brathwaite, the standard of the 'Wade' trilogy had been dismantled. In 'Brathwaite' the standard permits in-court testimony of a suggestive lineup if it is found to be reliable. This Federal standard is diametrically opposed to the current New York standard found in 'Adams,' which does not permit any testimony concerning a suggestive lineup. It is only by returning to a standard similar to the one used in New York that the goals of the 'Wade' trilogy, namely sanctions on police misconduct and a fair trial for defendants, will be met. 218 footnotes.