State v. Goldsby

650 P.2d 952, 59 Or. App. 66, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3182
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 8, 1982
DocketC81-04-32277, CA A22512
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 650 P.2d 952 (State v. Goldsby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Goldsby, 650 P.2d 952, 59 Or. App. 66, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3182 (Or. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

*68 WARDEN, J.

Defendant appeals his convictions for robbery in the first degree (two counts) and burglary in the first degree. He makes four assignments of error, contending that the trial court erred in failing (1) to suppress eyewitness identification evidence; (2) to allow a defense expert to testify regarding the validity of eyewitness identification; (3) to allow defendant to read notes taken by the clerk of the grand jury; and (4) to merge the two counts of robbery in the first degree into one for purposes of conviction.

On April 25, 1981, in the early morning hours, Dan Hall was visiting a friend’s home when he heard a noise in the yard. When he went outside to investigate, two men wearing nylon stocking masks and hooded sweatshirts ordered Hall to the ground, pointed guns at his head and took his wallet. The men then “escorted” Hall inside the house and ordered Inez D’Vorshak, who was in the living room, to lie on the floor. The larger of the two men then searched her at gun point. Threatening D’Vorshak and Hall with their guns, the men searched the house. They were inside the house for approximately one hour and twenty minutes. At one time, the larger of the two men took off his mask and turned his head toward D’Vorshak for one to two minutes. At approximately 2:30 a.m., the owner of the house returned home. When the door was opened, he saw a man pointing a gun toward the doorway. The owner ran away and contacted the police. The two men then left, running in a northerly direction away from the house.

A radio description of the suspects was dispatched to police officers in the area. At 3:06 a.m., Officer Brian Duddy saw defendant running in a northerly direction three blocks from the scene of the robbery. Duddy stopped defendant, advised him that he fit the description of a robbery suspect and patted him down for weapons. Under defendant’s sweatshirt, Duddy felt an empty shoulder holster. He then asked defendant to ride in the patrol car to the scene of the robbery for the purpose of eyewitness identification. Defendant said, “Okay.” Hall and D’Vorshak came out, one at a time, walked up to the car and identified *69 defendant as the larger of the two men who had robbed them.

In his first assignment of error, defendant contends that the eyewitness identifications should have been suppressed, because the identifications were the fruit of an illegal stop and were also unduly suggestive. On the first point, the legality of the stop of defendant by officer Duddy depends upon whether the officer had reasonable suspicion that defendant had committed a crime. ORS 131.615. 1 In determining whether the stop was justified, we examine whether the facts as perceived by the officer constituted objective cause for the stop. State v. Armstrong, 52 Or App 161, 166, 628 P2d 1206, rev den 291 Or 662 (1981). The officer knew that an armed robbery had just been committed. Defendant closely matched the radioed description and was running away from the crime scene. In addition, the stop occurred at approximately 3 a.m., when there were few people in the area. These objective facts justified stopping defendant and frisking him for weapons. ORS 131.625(1). 2 When Duddy discovered the shoulder holster, there then existed probable cause to arrest defendant, and the officer was acting within his authority when he transported defendant to the scene for identification purposes. The identification was not the fruit of an illegal stop.

In regard to defendant’s second point, a review of the record convinces us that, even if the identification procedures were unduly suggestive, the prosecution has demonstrated that the identifications were independently reliable. State v. Classen, 285 Or 221, 233, 590 P2d 1198 *70 (1979). D’Vorshak testified at trial that she saw defendant’s face for “a good minute.” She gave a detailed, accurate description of defendant within minutes of the incident. She identified defendant as one of the two robbers about 20 minutes after the two had left the house, and she testified that her identification of defendant in court was based upon her “memory of the robbery.” Hall testified that he got “three or four good looks” at defendant’s face in a well lighted room. The detailed description given to the officers by Hall closely matched defendant’s appearance. Because we conclude that any suggestiveness in the identification procedures did not affect the reliability of either the out-of-court or in-court identifications, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress those identifications.

In defendant’s second assignment of error, he contends that he was entitled to have an expert witness testify regarding the factors affecting accuracy of eyewitness identification. In Oregon, it is well established that it is the province of the jury to weigh the evidence and to assign credibility. As we stated in State v. Calia, 15 Or App 110, 114, 514 P2d 1354, (1973), rev den, cert den 417 US 917 (1974),

“* * * [although] eyewitness identification evidence has a built-in potential for error, * * * [t]he law does not deal with that potential for error by allowing expert witnesses to debate the quality of the evidence for the jury.”

The expert testimony was properly excluded.

In defendant’s third assignment of error, he contends that he should have been permitted to read the notes of the clerk of the grand jury of a witness’ grand jury testimony after that witness had testified on direct examination at trial. Defendant relies on State v. Hartfield, 290 Or 583, 624 P2d 588 (1981), where the Supreme Court held:

“[A]fter a witness has testified on direct examination by the state, the defendant is entitled to examine an existing tape recording of that witness’s testimony given in the grand jury proceedings that led to the return of the indictment upon which trial is held.” 290 Or at 592. (Emphasis supplied.)

*71 The court’s holding in Hartfield was limited to the discovery of an existing tape recording of grand jury testimony. The court emphasized that it did not “condone wholesale disclosure of grand jury recordings.” 290 Or at 592. This court has recognized the limitation of the Hartfield rule. In Addicks v. Cupp, 54 Or App 830, 837, 636 P2d 454 (1981), rev den 292 Or 568 (1982), the post-conviction petitioner had sought, at his criminal trial, “all notes, minutes, recordings, testimony and transcripts” of the grand jury proceedings. This court stated, “Under Hartfield the motion sought more than he was entitled to receive.” 54 Or App at 837. Similarly, in State v. Christopher, 55 Or App 544, 551, 639 P2d 642, rev den 293 Or 190 (1982), we stated:

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Bluebook (online)
650 P.2d 952, 59 Or. App. 66, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-goldsby-orctapp-1982.