Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Eyewitness Identification - Supreme Court Opinion Issued

The Supreme Court opinion in Perry v. New Hampshire is available in Adobe .pdf format.

The inital AP report is, "Court rules against man convicted by eyewitness ID.

from SCOTUSblog

Justice Ginsburg announced the first opinion of the day, in Perry v. New Hampshire. By a vote of eight to one, the Court affirmed the decision of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, holding that the Due Process Clause does not  require an inquiry into the reliability of an eyewitness identification when the identification was not procured under unnecessarily suggestive circumstances by law enforcement. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion; Justice Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion.