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THE PHOTO ARRAY WAS UNDULY SUGGESTIVE; THE VICTIM WAS FIXATED ON THE UNIQUE WHITE AND BLACK PATTERN ON THE SHIRT WORN BY THE ROBBER; IN THE PHOTO ARRAY A SHIRT WITH A BLACK AND WHITE DESIGN WAS VISIBLE IN THE DEFENDANT’S PHOTO, BUT THE FILLERS WERE ALL WEARING SOLID COLOR SHIRTS (SECOND DEPT).

The First Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and ordering a new trial, determined the photo array from which the victim identified defendant was unduly suggestive:

The hearing court should have granted defendant’s motion to suppress the victim’s identification of defendant in a photo array. The photo array was unduly suggestive because defendant was the only person shown wearing “distinctive clothing . . .which fit the description” of the suspect … . Moreover, the distinctive clothing was an outstanding feature of the identifying witness’s description of the robber …  The victim told the police that he “fixated” on the “unusual shirt” the r0bber was wearing during the incident, a white shirt with a distinctive black design. In the photo array, the visible part of defendant’s shirt closely matched the robber’s shirt as described by the victim. The fillers, on the other hand, all wore shirts that, to the extent visible in the photos, were solid-colored shirts without any markings or designs. People v Sulayman, 2022 NY Slip Op 04132, First Dept 6-28-22

Practice Point: Here the victim told the police the robber wore an “unusual shirt” with a black and white pattern. In the photo array from which the victim identified the defendant, the defendant was the only one with a black-and-white patterned shirt. All the fillers had solid color shirts. The array was deemed unduly suggestive and a new trial was ordered.

 

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