Also known as: photographic lineup · photographic line-up · photographic line-ups · photo lineup · photo lineups · photo array · photo arrays
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A pretrial identification procedure in which law enforcement displays an array of photographs to a witness and asks the witness to select the perpetrator. The procedure occurs outside the defendant's presence. No Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches because the defendant is absent and the images remain fixed for later review.
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After indictment, detectives assembled a sheet of booking photographs and showed it to the complaining witness at the station. Pavel Petrov's counsel received no notice and did not attend. The witness selected Petrov's image. The court admitted the identification at trial because the photographic procedure did not constitute a critical stage.
Investigators showed Pilar Pena a photo array containing images of several suspects. One photograph depicted a man whose appearance closely resembled the actual perpetrator. Pena identified the wrong individual. At trial the defense argued the array should have been disclosed earlier, but the court found the identification reliable under the totality of the circumstances.
Police presented Priscilla Parks with a single photograph of the suspect extracted from security footage. Parks identified the individual minutes after the crime. The defense moved to suppress on due process grounds. The court evaluated the procedure under the totality of the circumstances and admitted the identification because reliability outweighed any suggestiveness.
Detectives showed Peter Park one photograph two days after the robbery. Park had viewed the suspect at close range under good lighting and gave a detailed description immediately after the event. The court applied the reliability factors and denied the motion to suppress despite the suggestive format.
Officers displayed an array that included Priya Prasad's older booking photograph showing distinctive facial hair absent from the other images. The witness identified Prasad. The defense argued the array was impermissibly suggestive, but the court admitted the identification after finding the witness's independent recollection sufficiently reliable.
While questioning Penelope Price in custody on an unrelated matter, officers showed her a photo array concerning a new robbery investigation. Price identified the suspect. The defense claimed the procedure violated her rights, but the court held that photographic identifications do not trigger the same protections as live lineups.
No. Photographic arrays are not critical stages because the defendant is absent and the images can be reviewed later at trial. The right to counsel attaches only at proceedings where counsel can provide meaningful assistance during a live confrontation.
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No. The in-court identification is not automatically excluded merely because the defendant's presence resulted from an illegal arrest. The witness's independent recollection controls admissibility.
…thinner, and has a narrower face"); App. 181 (District Court opinion) ("The court examined all of the pictures used in the photographic line-up and compared Kyles' and Beanie's pictures; it finds that they did not resemble one another"); id. , at 36 (state trial court findings on post conviction review) ("[Beanie] clearly and…
…a picture of his assailant on a bulletin board. Aubin so informed one of the police officers present. The officer prepared a photo array
…or frozen. Nine days after the attack, on November 7, 1983, the police asked the boy to pick out his assailant from a photographic lineup
…officers at the scene were White men in dark blue uniforms with NYPD patches. On August 24, 2009, Ourlicht participated in a photo array
…left Santa Fe and traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his uncle Melicendro Martinez. Detective Jaramillo assembled a photo array
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A photographic lineup may be challenged when the procedure is unnecessarily suggestive and creates a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Courts assess reliability under the totality of the circumstances even if suggestiveness exists.
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No. The presence of opposing counsel does not trigger any Sixth Amendment obligation to include defense counsel. Photographic procedures remain outside the scope of the right regardless of who else attends.
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No. Custody on an unrelated matter and a prior invocation of counsel do not convert a photographic identification into a critical stage. The right depends on the nature of the procedure, not the suspect's custodial status.
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