State v. Lee

641 P.2d 589, 56 Or. App. 147, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 2438
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided March 8, 1982·No. No. C80-05-31847, CA A20273·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

JOSEPH, C. J.

Defendant appeals his convictions for rape in the first degree, ORS 163.375, and burglary in the first degree, ORS 164.225, contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress in-court and out-of-court photographic and voice identifications made by the rape victim’s sister.

During the day on January 21, 1979, a man came to Victoria Voglund’s house and asked if she had seen his dog. She replied that she had not but, if he would leave his telephone number, she would contact him in the event she did. He said he did not have a telephone and would check back within a week. A week later, he returned to the house and again asked about the dog. Ms. Voglund testified that she was a little surprised that he had returned. When she said that she had not seen the dog, he turned to go but then asked to use the telephone to call a taxi. She let him in, pointed to the telephone in the kitchen and went upstairs to continue her cleaning. After a “little while,” he came to the top of the stairs to ask for the address of the house. He then went downstairs and, after a few minutes, told Ms. Voglund from the foot of the stairs that the taxi would arrive in about 15 minutes and asked if he could wait inside. She replied that she would be uncomfortable if he did, and he left.

At about 12:45 on the morning of February 2, 1979, Ms. Voglund’s sister, Michelle, who was staying alone in the house that night, awoke to hear someone coming up the stairs to the second floor where she had been sleeping. Michelle feigned sleep for nearly half an hour as the intruder walked back and forth several times from the bathroom to the side of her bed. The bathroom and hall lights were on, and she caught several glimpses of the man. He then stood by the bed and told her that he was going to rape her and that he had a knife. During the rape, she kept her eyes closed. When the victim asked whether he knew her, he said that he had seen her walking and that his name was Larry Hart. She told him her first name. Afterwards, he stood back from the bed, covered her up with the bedclothes, kissed her on the cheek and apologized. After he left, the victim looked out the window [150] and saw and heard a loud, large, dark, older model car slowly drive down the street.

Michelle contacted the police shortly after the incident and described her assailant as 24 to 25 years old, fair complexion, 5' 11" stocky, weighing around 200 pounds and wearing a ski mask and a dark heavy coat.1

Later that day, Ms. Voglund received two telephone calls from a man whose voice, according to her testimony, she recognized as that of the man who had inquired about the dog. He asked for the victim by name. In the first call, when told she was not there, he refused to leave his number but said he would call back. During the second call, he identified himself as Larry Hart.

The next evening, both women were at Ms. Voglund’s house, and they heard a noisy car. The victim thought it was the same one she had heard and seen after the rape. Shortly thereafter, there was another call, and the man spoke with the victim, who recognized the caller’s voice as that of her assailant. He apologized for what had happened and wanted to know if there was any way they could get together. She said there was not. Within five minutes, the same noisy car drove past the house.

On March 1, 1979, Ms. Voglund, who was emerging from her car at a hamburger stand in southeast Portland, heard a car and looked up to see that it was a large, older greenish-blue Oldsmobile.2 She got a “good look” at the driver, whom she claimed to recognize as the man with the supposedly missing dog, and made “mental notes” about the car. She then called the police and described him as a short, 25-year-old white male, of slender build and with dark curly hair and a mustache.3

[151] The following day, the women were asked to come to the police station for a photographic throw-down identification. The two had earlier discussed the “suspicious man” who had inquired about the dog, and Ms. Voglund described him to her sister as a white male with short, dark curly hair. At the station, the women separately were shown six color photographs of young men with mustaches. Both selected defendant’s photograph. On April 3, 1979, the women were again called to the station for a voice identification. They separately were played six recordings of voices. Both selected the recording of defendant’s voice.

Defendant moved to suppress the in-court and out-of-court photographic and voice identifications by both witnesses on the grounds that the identification procedures were suggestive and the identifications unreliable.4 The trial court granted the motion with respect to Michelle, because her out-of-court identification of defendant was the result of an “unduly suggestive” procedure and was unreliable5 and her in-court identification was not shown to [152] have a source independent of the out-of-court identification. The court denied defendant’s motion with respect to Ms. Voglund.6

In determining whether to admit evidence of an out-of-court identification, the court must first decide whether the identification procedure was impermissibly suggestive. State v. Classen, 285 Or 221, 232, 590 P2d 1198 (1979). If that finding is made, the court must then determine whether the identification has a “source independent of the suggestive confrontation” or that

“* * * other aspects of the identification at the time it was made substantially exclude the risk that it resulted from the suggestive procedure.” State v. Classen, supra, 285 Or at 232.

In other words, evidence of an out-of-court identification is admissible if the state has shown that the identification is reliable despite the suggestive procedure; that is, that defendant was not chosen because of the suggestive procedure.7

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State v. Lee, 641 P.2d 589, 56 Or. App. 147, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 2438 (Or. Ct. App. 1982).

641 P.2d 589 (State v. Lee) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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