Chatman v. State

PARKS, Presiding Judge,

specially concurring:

Although I agree with Judge Bussey that this conviction should be affirmed, I am compelled to comment on the use by police of a one-person show-up as a means of pre-trial identification. In my opinion, a single person show-up, in the absence of an emergency situation, is almost always unnecessarily suggestive. In United States v. Wade. 388 U.S. 218 . 87 S.Ct. 1926 . 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967), the Supreme Court, discussing one person show-ups, said it was difficult to imagine a situation more clearly conveying the suggestion that the person presented is “believed guilty by the police.” Id. at 234 , 87 S.Ct. at 1936 . Accordingly, “[t]he practice of showing suspects singly to persons for the purpose of identification, and not as part of a lineup, has been widely condemned.” Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293 , 87 S.Ct. 1967 , 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967). Accord Goudeau v. State, 637 P.2d 859 (Okl.Cr.1981). See also Jenkins v. Warrington, 530 F.Supp. 121 (D.Mont.1982), aff'd without opinion, 714 F.2d 152 (9th Cir.1983) (“it is indeed regrettable that law enforcement officials continue to use this questionable method of identification”); Annot., Admissibility of Evidence of Showup Identification as Affected by Allegedly Suggestive Showup Procedures, 39 A.L.R.3d 791 (1971). Law enforcement officials in Oklahoma are urged to stop using this improper method of pre-trial identification. In those cases in which a one-person show-up is utilized and identification is not independently reliable, this Court will not hesitate to reverse the conviction. Goudeau v. State, supra.

However, because the in-court identification here was independently reliable under the standards announced by the Supreme Court in Neil v. Biggers, supra, and Manson v. Brathwaite, supra, I agree the conviction should be affirmed.