Sample v. Commonwealth

CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedFebruary 8, 2024
Docket1220445
StatusPublished

This text of Sample v. Commonwealth (Sample v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sample v. Commonwealth, (Va. 2024).

Opinion

PRESENT: All the Justices

DWAYNE LAMONT SAMPLE, JR. OPINION BY v. Record No. 220445 JUSTICE THOMAS P. MANN FEBRUARY 8, 2024 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Dwayne Lamont Sample, Jr. was found guilty of attempted robbery. Sample assigns

error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress an out-of-court identification and the

subsequent in-court identification as well as his motion to strike. In this appeal, we consider

whether the single photo showup, from which the victim identified Sample, was impermissibly

suggestive, and even if it were, whether it was nonetheless constitutionally reliable under the

totality of the circumstances. We also consider whether the evidence presented was sufficient to

convict Sample of attempted robbery. For the following reasons, we agree with the trial court

and affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

BACKGROUND

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on September 17, 2019, a man wearing a bandana attempted

to rob Mark Angiulli at gunpoint outside of a warehouse garage. Angiulli and his son were

loading granite onto a trailer when the man approached Angiulli from the left side. While

standing 15 to 20 feet away from Angiulli, the man pointed a gun back and forth between

Angiulli and his son and said, “Give me your wallet. Give me your f***ing wallet.” He then

“came right up” within two to three feet of Angiulli while pointing the gun directly in his face

the entire time. Angiulli noticed the gun’s small barrel and quickly realized the gun was likely a

BB gun. Angiulli yelled out to his son that it was a BB gun, and as he grabbed the gun away

from the assailant, both men hit the ground. The gun dropped and the man fled the scene. Angiulli called 911 less than five minutes after the incident, and an officer equipped with

a body-worn camera arrived on scene five to ten minutes after the 911 call. Angiulli told the

officer the man was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans, black ballcap, black and white tennis

shoes, and a black or dark blue bandana. Angiulli described the man as a “skinny white kid,”

about 20 years old or in his early twenties with big brown eyes and dark short hair. He estimated

the man was about his height, 5’10”, and weighed around 150 pounds. Angiulli and his son

indicated to the officer the direction of the assailant’s flight.

The officer then described to Angiulli several people who lived in that location, including

Sample who is “mixed, so he looks almost Hispanic, cause he’s not a white guy.” Angiulli then

responded, “this guy’s face was awfully pale though, you know, he didn’t look mixed to me, he

looked pure white.” Throughout the conversation with the officer, Angiulli repeated the same

description multiple times.

The officer left the scene to search for someone matching Angiulli’s description. He

suspected Sample, with whom he had prior encounters, because of Sample’s “very distinctive

eyes,” his build, and the direction of the man’s escape. The officer asked dispatch to send

Sample’s photograph to the officer’s cell phone, and he returned to the scene 15 minutes later.1

The officer showed Angiulli a booking photo of Sample on his phone and said, “I have a picture

of somebody that I was thinking about, but I don’t know if—you said you just saw their eyes.”

After seeing the photo, Angiulli immediately said, “Yep.” The officer clarified, “That’s him?”

and Angiulli repeated, “Yep.” The officer then asked again, “But you think that’s definitely

him?” Angiulli replied, “Yeah—those big brown eyes, yep . . . he’s light-complected like that.”

“Yeah, kind of like pale-ish?” the officer asked, and Angiulli replied, “Yeah. Yep.” The officer

1 The length of time is calculated based on the body-worn camera time stamps.

2 collected the gun and the magazine left behind at the scene as well as buccal swabs from

Angiulli and his son. Sample was charged with attempted robbery and subsequently arrested.

Sample filed a motion to suppress all evidence of any pretrial identification and any

subsequent in-court identification. Sample argued that the manner in which the officer showed

Angiulli his photograph was impermissibly suggestive, rendering the identification unreliable in

violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

At the suppression hearing, Angiulli testified that even though it was nighttime, and a

streetlight was out of service, the warehouse LED lights sufficiently illuminated the area where

the incident occurred. He testified he was “looking back and forth” between the man and the gun

and repeating to himself, “Remember him. Remember the gun.” Angiulli also testified that the

man who attempted to rob him wore dark clothing and a dark bandana. He recalled describing

the man to the officer as “Caucasian with very dark eyes and eyebrows,” “lighter skinned,” and

of “thin build, about 150 to 170 pounds . . . wearing a black hoodie, a black hat, black skinny

jeans and Van[s]-looking shoes, like white soles and black tops.” Angiulli reiterated he noticed

the man “had real dark, sunken eyes; real dark eyebrows with distinct marks on them . . . and

almost black pupils.” Angiulli declared he had no question when he saw the photograph of

Sample that he was the man who attempted to rob him. Angiulli then identified Sample in court.

Angiulli stated he “will never forget those eyes directly above the barrel of the weapon.”

Angiulli also identified the gun and the magazine as the ones Sample used that night.

On cross examination, Angiulli stated he owned several guns and during the robbery he

was able to determine within a few seconds that Sample was using a BB gun. He came to this

conclusion based on the opening of the barrel in comparison to the size of the gun. Angiulli

clarified that the man was in front of him for five to ten seconds before Angiulli wrestled him to

3 the ground. Angiulli asserted he had no doubt in his mind that if Sample did not look like the

person who robbed him, he would speak up.

The officer then testified about the encounter. The officer stated that after Angiulli gave

him the description of the assailant and the direction in which the man ran, he thought of Sample

due to previous encounters with him. On cross examination, the officer testified he relied on the

exigency of the circumstances as a justification for the single photo showup. Based on his

training, he explained that a single photo showup is permitted when the victim of a crime gives a

“vivid description” of the suspect and can identify the suspect within a reasonable amount of

time.

The trial court denied the motion to suppress, finding that the photographic identification

was not unduly suggestive. It observed that Angiulli “was able to focus” and within “a matter of

seconds” determined that the gun pointed at him was a BB gun. Angiulli saw “something about

the assailant’s eyes that were very distinctive.” When commenting on the body-worn camera

footage, the trial court noted that its “understanding of the evidence is that the assailant was

facing the lights and facing the garage opening.” The trial court also stressed that Angiulli

immediately identified Sample upon seeing his photograph. The case proceeded to a bench trial,

and the trial court incorporated the transcript from the suppression hearing as part of the record.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Simmons v. United States
390 U.S. 377 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Foster v. California
394 U.S. 440 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Neil v. Biggers
409 U.S. 188 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Manson v. Brathwaite
432 U.S. 98 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Sidney v. Com.
702 S.E.2d 124 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2010)
Williams v. Com.
677 S.E.2d 280 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2009)
Winston v. Com.
604 S.E.2d 21 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Hudson
578 S.E.2d 781 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2003)
Tyler v. Commonwealth
487 S.E.2d 221 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1997)
McCary v. Commonwealth
321 S.E.2d 637 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1984)
Delong v. Commonwealth
362 S.E.2d 669 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1987)
DREWAY v. Commonwealth
191 S.E.2d 178 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1972)
Woodson v. Commonwealth
176 S.E.2d 818 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1970)
Satcher v. Commonwealth
421 S.E.2d 821 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1992)
Curtis v. Commonwealth
396 S.E.2d 386 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1990)
Vasquez v. Commonwealth
781 S.E.2d 920 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2016)
Commonwealth v. Moseley
799 S.E.2d 683 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2017)
Pijor v. Commonwealth
808 S.E.2d 408 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Perkins (ORDER)
812 S.E.2d 212 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2018)
Gerald, T. v. Commonwealth
813 S.E.2d 722 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Sample v. Commonwealth, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sample-v-commonwealth-va-2024.