State v. Body

366 S.W.3d 625, 2012 WL 1313203, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 500
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided April 17, 2012·No. ED 96407·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

KURT S. ODENWALD, Chief Judge.

Introduction

Stanley Body (Body) appeals from the trial court’s judgment after a jury trial convicting him of first degree robbery and armed criminal action. The State presented evidence that the victim of the crime, Raymond Burrows (Burrows), identified Body in both photo and physical lineups as the individual who robbed him. On appeal, Body argues that the trial court erred in allowing the identification testimony because the police procedures used during the photo and physical lineups imper-missibly suggested to Burrows that Body was his assailant. Body also argues that the trial court erred in admitting the same testimony because Burrows only saw his assailant for a limited time, and in poor light, and therefore the identification testimony was unreliable, and more prejudicial than probative. Under plain error review, we find no manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice occurred from the admission of the identification evidence because Body failed to demonstrate that the police procedures were impermissibly suggestive, or that the evidence was more prejudicial than probative. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Factual and Procedural History

Body does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence. Therefore, the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s judgment is as follows. On March 17, 2010, Burrows was standing on the landing outside his home when an individual approached him from behind and demanded that Burrows give the assailant his car keys. Burrows saw the face of the assailant. The assailant took Burrows’s keys and stole his truck. Burrows promptly notified the police of the robbery and vehicle theft.

Four days later, Detective Steven Ort-bals (Det. Ortbals) observed three individuals, one of whom was Body, traveling in Burrows’s stolen truck. Det. Ortbals stopped the vehicle, and placed all three individuals under arrest. Det. Ortbals notified Burrows that his truck had been recovered, and requested that Burrows examine a photo lineup. Det. Ortbals created a photo lineup which included all three suspects, including Body, using a database that matched the suspects’ facial features with those of other individuals and created an array of similar looking individuals. Det. Ortbals showed Burrows the photo lineup and asked whether any of the individuals in the photos looked familiar. Burrows immediately identified Body as the individual who robbed him, and testified at trial that he was “very clear” about his identification. The next day, Burrows also *628 identified Body in a physical lineup of individuals with similar physical characteristics. Burrows testified at trial that his identification was “very clear” and he was “100%” certain that Body was the individual who robbed him.

The State charged Body with first degree robbery and armed criminal action. At trial, the State introduced as evidence the photo lineup in which Burrows identified Body as the individual who had robbed him, and testimony regarding the identification. The State also produced evidence and testimony of Burrows’s identification of Body during the physical line up. A jury convicted Burrows of both counts. This appeal follows.

Point on Appeal

In his sole point on appeal, Body argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Burrows’s identification of Body as the individual who robbed him. Specifically, Body asserts that the trial court erred in admitting both the evidence of Burrows’s photo and physical identifications of Body, and testimony related to the identifications. Body contends that the admission of such identification evidence was plain error because Burrows’s identification was the product of impermissibly suggestive police procedures, unreliable, and should have been excluded under the due process clause. Body also argues that the trial court plainly erred when it admitted the identification evidence because the evidence was more prejudicial than probative.

Standard of Review

Body concedes that he did not preserve this alleged error for our review. Therefore, we review only for plain error under Rule 30.20, 1 and we will affirm unless we find that the trial court committed an error which caused manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice. Rule 30.20. Under plain error review, the movant must demonstrate that the trial court committed an error which is “evident, obvious, and clear” and that such error resulted in a “manifest injustice or miscarriage or justice.” State v. Roper, 136 S.W.3d 891, 900 (Mo.App. W.D.2004). If the movant has carried the burden of producing an error that facially produced manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice, we will consider whether the claimed error did in fact cause manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice. State v. Baumruk, 280 S.W.3d 600, 607-08 (Mo. banc 2009).

Discussion

I. The trial court’s admission of the identification evidence was not plainly an error in violation of due process.

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State v. Body, 366 S.W.3d 625, 2012 WL 1313203, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 500 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012).

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