People v. Singley

412 P.3d 741
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 18, 2015
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 12CA0898
StatusPublished

This text of 412 P.3d 741 (People v. Singley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Singley, 412 P.3d 741 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion by JUDGE TAUBMAN

¶ 1 Defendant, Delmon Edric Singley, appeals his judgment of conviction entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of attempted second degree murder, first degree assault, attempted aggravated robbery, and felony menacing. We affirm.

I. Background

¶ 2 In the late evening of May 11, 2010, the victim, J.A.C., was commuting home from work when two men, both carrying handguns, confronted him. When J.A.C. shouted for help, one of the men opened fire, shooting him three times, fracturing his pelvic bone, and causing permanent scarring.

¶ 3 At the hospital, J.A.C. told officers that two black men in dark clothing had robbed and shot him. He described the shooter as being in his twenties with a medium-length Afro and wearing a dark-colored, unzipped, hooded sweatshirt, black shoes, and a mask.

¶ 4 Throughout the evening, officers canvassed the surrounding neighborhoods for two black men wearing dark clothing. Eventually, an officer noticed Singley, who at the time was forty-six years old and bald, and another man, wearing dark clothing and walking down the street carrying a flat-screen television and a laptop computer. When the officer confronted them, a woman ran from her home saying that the men had robbed her. Although Singley and the other man dropped the television and fled the scene, another officer was later able to arrest Singley. A search incident to arrest uncovered a mask in Singley's back pocket. During *745an interview with the arresting officer, Singley admitted to knowing about the shooting but denied any involvement in it.

¶ 5 About a week and a half after the shooting, officers presented J.A.C. with two six-photograph lineups in an attempt to identify both the shooter and his accomplice. Officers suspected Singley of being the shooter and built one lineup around a photograph of him. Within forty-five seconds, J.A.C. identified Singley as the shooter; however, he was unable to identify the accomplice among the six photographs in the second lineup. J.A.C. also identified the mask found on Singley as the one that the shooter had been wearing.

¶ 6 The prosecution's case relied heavily on J.A.C.'s prior out-of-court identification of Singley. Although J.A.C. testified to identifying Singley in the photographic lineup, he was unable to identify Singley in court. Instead, J.A.C. identified Singley from a photograph taken during his arrest on the evening of the shooting. In it, Singley is handcuffed and standing next to a police cruiser.

¶ 7 The jury convicted Singley as charged, and the trial court sentenced him to thirty-two years in the custody of the Department of Corrections for the second degree attempted murder, thirty-two years for the assault, and sixteen years for the aggravated robbery.

II. Photographic Lineup Identification

¶ 8 Singley contends that the trial court violated his right to due process and a fair trial when it declined to suppress the allegedly impermissibly suggestive and unreliable out-of-court identification, as well as the subsequent in-court identification. Although we conclude that the trial court erred when it found that the lineup was not impermissibly suggestive, we conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, J.A.C.'s identification of Singley was nonetheless reliable and any error by the trial court in determining reliability was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Finally, we conclude that any error in admitting the in-court identification was not plain.

A. Standard of Review

¶ 9 The constitutionality of a pretrial identification procedure is a mixed question of law and fact. People v. Wilford, 111 P.3d 512, 514 (Colo.App.2004). While we give deference to the trial court's findings of fact, we may give weight to those facts differently and thus reach a different conclusion. People v. Hogan, 114 P.3d 42, 49 (Colo.App.2004).

¶ 10 Singley objected to the out-of-court identification; therefore, we review for nonconstitutional harmless error. Hagos v. People, 2012 CO 63, ¶ 12, 288 P.3d 116, 119. Under this standard, we reverse if there is a reasonable possibility that the erroneous admission of the identification contributed to the conviction. Id.

¶ 11 Singley did not object to J.A.C.'s in-court identification of him; therefore, we review for plain error. People v. Miller, 113 P.3d 743, 749 (Colo.2005). Plain error addresses error that is both "obvious and substantial." People v. Stewart, 55 P.3d 107, 120 (Colo.2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). It must be seriously prejudicial and " 'so undermine [ ] the fundamental fairness of the trial itself as to cast serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction.' " Hagos, ¶ 14, 288 P.3d at 120 (quoting People v. Sepulveda, 65 P.3d 1002, 1006 (Colo.2003) ).

¶ 12 Plain errors must also be "so clear-cut, [and] so obvious, that a trial judge should be able to avoid [them] without benefit of objection." People v. Pollard, 2013 COA 31M, ¶ 39, 307 P.3d 1124, 1133.

B. Applicable Law

¶ 13 The supreme court has outlined a two-part test for determining the admissibility of out-of-court photographic identifications. Bernal v. People, 44 P.3d 184, 190-91 (Colo.2002).

¶ 14 First, the defendant has the burden of demonstrating that the array was impermissibly suggestive. People v. Borghesi, 66 P.3d 93, 103 (Colo.2003).

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Parsley v. State
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State v. Romero
922 A.2d 693 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2007)
State v. Trammell
92 P.3d 1101 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2004)
Bernal v. People
44 P.3d 184 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2002)
People v. Hogan
114 P.3d 42 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2004)
People v. Shreck
22 P.3d 68 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2001)
People v. Renfro
117 P.3d 43 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2005)
People v. Borghesi
66 P.3d 93 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2003)
People v. Melillo
25 P.3d 769 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2001)
People v. Stewart
55 P.3d 107 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2002)
People v. Sepulveda
65 P.3d 1002 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2003)
People v. Wilford
111 P.3d 512 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2004)
People v. Miller
113 P.3d 743 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
412 P.3d 741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-singley-coloctapp-2015.