Outerbridge v. State

947 So. 2d 279, 2006 WL 3513147
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 7, 2006
Docket2005-KA-01809-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 947 So. 2d 279 (Outerbridge v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Outerbridge v. State, 947 So. 2d 279, 2006 WL 3513147 (Mich. 2006).

Opinion

947 So.2d 279 (2007)

Daniel OUTERBRIDGE a/k/a Daniel Nian Outerbridge
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2005-KA-01809-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 7, 2006.
Rehearing Denied February 8, 2007.

*280 George T. Holmes, Jackson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Daniel Hinchcliff, attorney for appellee.

*281 Before COBB, P.J., CARLSON and DICKINSON, JJ.

COBB, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This appeal comes from Daniel Outerbridge's conviction in the Hinds County Circuit Court, First Judicial District, for armed robbery pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. Section 97-3-79. Outerbridge asserts that the trial court erred by failing to suppress evidence of an improperly suggestive identification, allowing hearsay testimony to improperly bolster the victim's statements, and allowing the prosecutor to make an inappropriate "golden rule" comment during the State's closing argument. Concluding that these issues are without merit, we affirm Outerbridge's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. Around 7:00 P.M. on February 2, 2003, Aaron Clark was cleaning his work van in the parking lot of his apartment complex. As he leaned across the driver's seat he felt a gun barrel pushed into his back and heard a male voice say "give me what you got." Clark turned to face the gunman and told him that he did not have anything on him and that in fact he did not have any pockets in the jogging pants he was wearing. Clark testified that he was face-to-face with the gunman and that a large black automatic pistol was being held against his chest.

¶ 3. After seeing that Clark did not have anything, the gunman stepped back while still holding the gun on him and said "there must be something in the van that I can take." Clark informed him that it was a company van and that there was nothing of value inside, but suggested that he see for himself. After ascertaining there was nothing of value in the van, the gunman ran away.

¶ 4. Clark immediately called the Jackson Police Department and reported the incident, describing the gunman as a light-skinned young black male with a light mustache and braids in his hair. Clark told the police that the gunman was between 5'9" and 6' tall, weighed approximately 145 pounds, and was wearing a gray shirt or sweater with a pullover hood and dark pants with shiny black shoes. Officer Cesar Hamilton arrived on the scene within half an hour of the incident and Clark gave him an identical description, which was radioed to other officers so they would be on the lookout for an individual matching the description.

¶ 5. Hamilton received a call about another armed robbery in progress and left to respond to that call. Approximately one hour later he returned to get Clark and take him to a local gas station to identify a suspect who matched the description Clark had given. En route Clark heard radio transmissions about the detained suspect. When they arrived at the gas station Clark remained in the patrol car while other officers at the scene produced the handcuffed suspect, later identified as Outerbridge, from another patrol car. At a distance of about fifteen feet Clark was able to identify Outerbridge positively as the man who had earlier held a gun on him.

¶ 6. The next day Clark went to the police station to speak with a Jackson Police Department detective. During the course of Clark's interview a photo lineup was conducted, and Clark positively identified Outerbridge from the six-person photo lineup.

ANALYSIS

I. IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE

¶ 7. Outerbridge asserts two reasons why the trial court erred in allowing the *282 State to present Clark's pre-trial identification. The first is that the show-up, which occurred at the gas station, was unjustifiably suggestive and also led to Clark's identification of Outerbridge in the photo lineup the following day. The second is that the individuals in the photo lineup were "too indistinguishable from Outerbridge", as they all looked almost exactly alike, thus increasing substantially the likelihood of mistaken identity.

¶ 8. This Court's standard of review regarding the admissibility of evidence is abuse of discretion. Johnston v. State, 567 So.2d 237, 238 (Miss.1990). Unless a trial court abuses its discretion in admitting the specific evidence this Court will not find error. Shearer v. State, 423 So.2d 824, 826 (Miss.1983). The standard of review for trial court decisions regarding pretrial identification is "whether or not substantial credible evidence supports the trial court's findings that, considering the totality of the circumstances, in-court identification testimony was not impermissibly tainted." Roche v. State, 913 So.2d 306, 310 (Miss.2005). We will only disturb the order of the trial court where there is an absence of substantial credible evidence supporting it. Id.

¶ 9. The holding of Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972), which has long guided this Court's decisions on eyewitness identifications, established the central question as being "whether under the `totality of the circumstances' the identification was reliable even through the confrontation was suggestive." It held, inter alia, that five "factors to be considered in evaluating the likelihood of misidentification include the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the witness' degree of attention, the accuracy of the witness' prior description of the criminal, the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation, and the length of time between the crime and the confrontation." Id. at 199, 93 S.Ct. 375. In York v. State, 413 So.2d 1372, 1381 (Miss.1982), this Court provided a detailed history and analysis of the law regarding both pretrial and in-court identification, recognizing the importance of eyewitness identifications while at the same time warning of the troubles which can arise from mistaken identifications. In evaluating the likelihood of misidentification of York following an allegedly suggestive police procedure, this Court applied the five factors established by Biggers and affirmed York's conviction and sentence.

¶ 10. Outerbridge asserts that the show-up was unnecessary, impermissibly suggestive and tainted Clark's subsequent photo identification. Applying the Biggers factors in its ruling on a pretrial motion to suppress the identifications, the trial court found otherwise:

The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt from the totality of the circumstances that Mr. Clark had an excellent opportunity to view the assailant during the time of the commission of the crime. The Court finds that there was a high degree of attention given by Mr. Clark to his assailant during that period of time. Duration was such that it provided excellent opportunity for Mr. Clark to observe, not only a clothing description, but a physical description and facial description of the assailant as well. The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the description was highly accurate when compared with the actual physical description of the defendant following his apprehension.

The trial court went on to find the duration between the crime and the photo lineup was relatively short, and that after taking approximately ten minutes reviewing the photographs, Clark "expressed 100 *283 percent degree or level of certainty" in his identification of Outerbridge.

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Bluebook (online)
947 So. 2d 279, 2006 WL 3513147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/outerbridge-v-state-miss-2006.