Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Armed Robbery Witnesses

Person is accused of committing 5 armed robberies (2,3,4,& 5 were dismissed because the gas station attendees could not ID him in line-up)and at the 1st gas station the owner was shown his wallet w/Drivers License picture which was found on the ground (my friend's wallet was lost a couple of days before all robberies).... At the 1st robbery another man was also held up.Only the owner of the 1st gas station ID'd my friend in line-up; the other person at 1st robbery who was held up could not ID him. Question: How much credibility does the owner of the 1st robbery have who ID'd him? What are the odds of my friend being convicted?


Asked on 6/21/03, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jacqueline Goodman Rubio Law Offices of Jacqueline Goodman Rubio

Re: Armed Robbery Witnesses

Do you really want to ask how much credibility the owner of the first gas station has? How can anyone give an honest assessment of his credibility? If he's a retired FBI agent with excellent vision, and saw the suspect for an extended period of time, face-to-face in a well-lit area, for example, I'd say his credibility is pretty high, wouldn't you? Certainly the fact that he was shown a photo ID of your friend at the scene taints his identification, since he may be recalling his face from the photo instead of the incident. But often people can't distinguish that themselves. It involves the rather complex way we make memories. THis is called confabulation. This, among other things, should be used to attack the ID's.

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Answered on 6/23/03, 1:03 am


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