United States ex rel. Baskerville v. Fritz

329 F. Supp. 33, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13553
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedApril 28, 1971
DocketNo. 71-C-30
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 329 F. Supp. 33 (United States ex rel. Baskerville v. Fritz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States ex rel. Baskerville v. Fritz, 329 F. Supp. 33, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13553 (E.D.N.Y. 1971).

Opinion

BARTELS, District Judge.

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

Petitioner, Robert Baskerville, presently incarcerated in the Auburn Correctional Facility, Auburn, New York, upon conviction, after a jury trial, of the crimes of robbery in the first degree, grand larceny in the second degree, and assault in the second degree, seeks his release through federal habeas corpus. He was sentenced in the Supreme Court Kings County (Starkey, J.) to a maximum sentence of fifteen to twenty years and two and one-half to five years, to be served concurrently with a sentence of fifteen to twenty years previously imposed on February 19, 1968. Petitioner claims that his conviction should be set aside because (1) it was error to permit at trial testimony respecting a pretrial photographic identification of petitioner, (2) the in-court identification of petitioner by a witness was fatally infected by a prior illegal police station identification, and (3) the District Attorney’s summation was highly prejudicial. Prior to the trial petitioner was afforded a Wade hearing so that issues relevant to identification could be considered in advance of trial. The testimony adduced at the Wade hearing and trial may be summarized as follows.

At about 5 P.M. on August 2, 1967 a man, armed with a gun, entered an Ebinger’s bakery shop in Brooklyn in which Alice Callan (the manager), Frances Cassidy and Vera Calicchia (clerks) were present. Upon entering the store the the man went behind the counter where the three employees were working and stated that he wanted the money. The man told the three women to proceed to the back of the store, which they did. He then ordered Miss Callan to instruct the other two women to enter a small bathroom which was just off the back room of the store. The two women complied with this order and the gunman then directed Miss Callan to give him the money. She removed over $300 from a desk and placed it on a table. He asked her if there was any more money. She went to the store safe located in the rear room, looked into it and informed the robber that there wasn’t any more money. He thereupon ordered her into the bathroom with the other two girls and then fled from the store. The sequence of events consumed approximately two minutes. Miss Callan testified that she looked directly into the man’s face when he first entered the shop and during the ensuing conversations. She further testified that the areas where she observed him were well lighted. Shortly after the robbery Miss Callan called the Ebinger office, which in turn communicated the information to the police. When the police came she described the robber as a slim male Negro, approximately six feet tall, between 25 and 30 years of age with a mustache and a goatee.

About twelve days after the robbery Miss Callan was visited by Detective Gross of the New York City Police Department. He showed her approximately fifteen photographs from which she [35]*35picked the picture of Baskerville as the perpetrator of the robbery. Several weeks after this event Miss Callan was asked to come to the police station. Through a one-way mirror she viewed Baskerville and a Negro detective dressed in civilian clothes. The latter individual was heavier, older and several inches shorter than petitioner. She identified Baskerville as the man who had held up the bakery store. Baskerville was in custody at that time because he had been arrested on another robbery charge for which counsel had already been appointed. Detective Gross testified that Baskerville had been paroled in his custody to be rearrested for the Ebinger robbery. Baskerville was not told that he was going to be viewed nor was he informed that he had a right to an attorney.

At the Wade hearing Baskerville’s attorney introduced a picture of one Charles Williams who bore a close resemblance to Baskerville and who had been mistaken for Baskerville in the past. This picture was added to the fifteen photographs used in the prior photographic identification and Miss Callan was asked whether she recognized anyone depicted. She chose three photographs which she stated closely resembled each other. Of these three she selected Baskerville as the man who had committed the robbery. In addition, at the hearing a lineup was arranged so that Miss Cassidy could view the defendant. The hearing was adjourned to permit the defense to secure Charles Williams as one of the five participants in the lineup. At this lineup Miss Cassidy identified Baskerville as the man who had committed the robbery. After this identification, Miss Cassidy testified that she viewed the robber for about thirty seconds at the time of the robbery.

At the conclusion of the Wade hearing Judge Starkey ruled that an in-court identification by Miss Callan would not be tainted by the prior station house identification. The defendant’s attorney then stated that he had nothing to say with reference to Miss Cassidy.

At trial Miss Callan and Miss Cassidy identified petitioner as the man who had committed the robbery. In addition, on re-direct examination the prosecutor elicited testimony regarding Miss Callan’s prior photographic identification of petitioner and introduced the photographs into evidence.

On appeal the Appellate Division, Second Department, split three to two. 32 A.D.2d 555, 300 N.Y.S.2d 124 (1969). The majority held that although it was error under state law to permit testimony respecting Miss Callan’s photographic identification, such error was harmless in view of the positive and convincing identification by the two witnesses. The court also ruled that Miss Callan’s in-court identification was not tainted by the prior station house identification. The dissenters, however, were of the opinion that the station house identification which was conducted without counsel violated the rule established in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967), and Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967), and thus tainted the in-court identification. They concluded that this was not harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt and that when coupled with the error of permitting testimony of the prior photographic identification, a new trial was mandated. The Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed without opinion, 27 N.Y.2d 966, 318 N.Y.S.2d 499, 267 N.E.2d 274 (1970).

Photographic Identification

Petitioner’s objection to the admission of evidence respecting the prior photographic identification does not raise a claim cognizable in a federal habeas corpus proceeding. Testimony concerning a prior identification, photographic or otherwise, can be attacked upon the ground that it is hearsay in nature. See 4 Wigmore, Evidence § 1130 (3d Ed. 1940); Morgan, Hearsay Dangers and the Application of the Hearsay Concept, 62 Harv.L.Rev. 177, 192-196 (1948). It is not, however, vulnerable to [36]*36the charge that its admission violates an accused's constitutional rights of due process or confrontation. See California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970); United States v. Miller, 381 F.2d 529 (2d Cir. 1967), cert denied, 392 U.S. 929, 88 S.Ct. 2273, 20 L.Ed.2d 1387 (1968); United States v. Forzano, 190 F.2d 687

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Bluebook (online)
329 F. Supp. 33, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13553, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-baskerville-v-fritz-nyed-1971.