Carter v. State
Carter v. State
Opinion
The defendant was indicted and convicted for arson in the first degree. Sentence was twenty years' imprisonment. On appeal the defendant argues that in-court identification was tainted by an impermissibly suggestive out-of-court identification procedure
State's witness Michael Donders testified that he saw the defendant leave the victim's house immediately after he saw flames burst from the rear of the house. Shortly thereafter Donders was shown four mug shots by the investigating officers but was unable to identify the defendant's photograph
The next morning Donders was shown a single photograph depicting three men and four women in a casual family type setting. Donders immediately identified one of the men in this picture as the person he saw leaving the scene of the fire
This is not an inherently suggestive photographic showup procedure because the single family photograph depicted other males besides the defendant and because *Page 1077
the defendant's appearance in the family photograph is significantly different from his appearance in the mug shot Compare Brazell v. State,
The fact that the witness was unable to make an identification of the defendant from the photographic line-up conducted the night of the crime does not require the exclusion of his in-court identification, but rather goes to the weight and credibility of his testimony. Williams v. State,
We have searched the record and found no error prejudicial to the substantial rights of the defendant. The judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed
AFFIRMED
All Judges concur
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Dudley Carter v. State.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published