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THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE IDENTIFICATION OF DEFENDANT FROM A CELL PHONE PICTURE TAKEN BY A POLICE OFFICER AT THE POLICE STATION WERE UNDULY SUGGESTIVE; THERE WAS NO PROBABLE CAUSE FOR DEFENDANT’S ARREST AND THE EVIDENCE SEIZED SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FIRST DEPT). ​

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court’s finding that there was probable cause to arrest the defendant and suppressing the seized evidence, determined that the circumstances surrounding the identification of the defendant by a robbery victim (the mother) from a cell-phone picture of defendant taken by a police officer were unduly suggestive:

Because, while being escorted to where the officers were holding defendant on a different floor, the mother expressed fear that defendant would “come after” her after he was released from prison, it was decided that instead of requiring her to confront defendant in person, the mother would be shown a picture of defendant that one of the officers took with a cell phone. She was not required to approach defendant after exiting the elevator; however, given the narrow and angular path of the hallway, the agitated defendant was clearly audible to her, and many of the several officers surrounding defendant, at least one of whom was visible in the photo, were immediately apparent to her. She was shown the photo and asked “Is that him?” to which she responded that it “looked like” him, but that he had changed his clothes. Defendant was not arrested at that time, but was arrested approximately 15 minutes later, after the mother was shown the photo several more times and asked whether it depicted the perpetrator. * * *

While the choice to proceed with identification via a showup, even a single-photo showup, is generally disfavored, it may be reasonable in view of its temporal and spatial proximity to the crime … . Nevertheless, showup identification evidence “must be scrutinized very carefully for unacceptable suggestiveness and unreliability” … . “When a defendant challenges the suggestiveness of an out-of-court viewing of defendant’s likeness, the central issue presented for judicial consideration is whether the pretrial display is conducted under circumstances bearing the earmarks of improper influence and unreliability, which create the risk of mistaken identification and thus infect the truth-seeking process . . . showing one photograph of a defendant — the procedure at issue in defendant’s case — carries the risk of undue suggestiveness” … . The procedure employed here carried that risk, and because the substances underlying defendant’s conviction were received as a direct result of it, they should have been suppressed. People v Perry, 2026 NY Slip Op 01617, First Dept 3-19-26

Practice Point: The robbery victim, while in the police station and within earshot of the agitated defendant, was shown a cell phone picture of the defendant taken by an officer at the police station. She said the picture “looked like” the defendant but he had changed his clothes. The identification procedure was deemed unduly suggestive.

 

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