State v. Henderson and the New Model Jury Charges - New Jersey ...

a-8-08.opn.html
Womble did not recant his identification, but during the Wade hearing he
testified that he felt as though Detective Weber was “nudging” him to choose
defendant’s photo, and “that there was pressure” to make a choice.
After hearing the testimony, the trial court applied the two-part
Manson/Madison test to evaluate the admissibility of the eyewitness
identification. See Manson, supra, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S. Ct. at 2253, 53 L. Ed. 2d
at 154; Madison, supra, 109 N.J. 232-33. The test requires courts to determine
first if police identification procedures were impermissibly suggestive; if so,
courts then weigh five reliability factors to decide if the identification evidence
is nonetheless admissible. See Manson, supra, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S. Ct. at 2253,
53 L. Ed. 2d at 154; Madison, supra, 109 N.J. 232-33.
The trial court first found that the photo display itself was “a fair makeup.”
Under the totality of the circumstances, the judge concluded that the photo
identification was reliable. The court found that there was “nothing in this case
that was improper, and certainly nothing that was so suggestive as to result in a
substantial likelihood of misidentification at all.” The court also noted that
Womble displayed no doubts about identifying defendant Henderson, that he
had the opportunity to view defendant at the crime scene, and that Womble
fixed his attention on defendant “because he had a gun on him.”
C. Trial
The following facts -- relevant to Womble’s identification of defendant --
were adduced at trial after the court determined that the identification was
admissible: Womble smoked two bags of crack cocaine with his girlfriend in the
hours before the shooting; the two also consumed one bottle of champagne and
one bottle of wine; the lighting was “pretty dark” in the hallway where Womble
and defendant interacted; defendant shoved Womble during the incident; and
Womble remembered looking at the gun pointed at his chest. Womble also
admitted smoking about two bags of crack cocaine each day from the time of
the shooting until speaking with police ten days later.
At trial, Womble elaborated on his state of mind during the identification
procedure. He testified that when he first looked at the photo array, he did not
see anyone he recognized. As he explained, “[m]y mind was drawing a blank . . .
so I just started eliminating photos.” To make a final identification, Womble
http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/courts/supreme/a-8-08.opn.html[4/15/2013 6:04:23 PM]