IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
No. 379A17
Filed 1 November 2019
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v.
BRANDON MALONE
Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of
the Court of Appeals, 256 N.C. App. 275, 807 S.E.2d 639 (2017), finding prejudicial
error upon appeal from judgments entered on 7 April 2016 by Judge James K.
Roberson in Superior Court, Alamance County. On 1 March 2018, the Supreme Court
allowed the State’s petition for discretionary review as to additional issues. Heard in
the Supreme Court on 9 April 2019.
Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Jess D. Mekeel, Special Deputy Attorney
General, for the State-appellant.
Glenn Gerding, Appellate Defender, by James R. Grant, Assistant Appellate
Defender, for defendant-appellee.
EARLS, Justice.
At approximately 6 p.m. on 23 October 2012, twenty-two year old Anthony
Kevette Jones was shot and killed on the front porch of his mother’s home in
Burlington in a confrontation with two men. One of those men was identified soon
after the shooting as Marquis Spence. The identity of the other man, who carried the
gun and pulled the trigger, was the central issue in the trial of defendant Brandon
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Opinion of the Court
Malone. Following a two-week trial, Mr. Malone was convicted of first-degree murder
and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. On
appeal, he argued that the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress the
testimony of two eyewitnesses, Claudia Lopez and Cindy Alvarez, including their in-
court identifications of defendant as the perpetrator of the crimes. In a divided
opinion, the Court of Appeals majority agreed, concluding that the eyewitness
testimony at issue was the result of identification procedures that were impermissibly
suggestive in violation of defendant’s due process rights and that the testimony was
prejudicial to defendant, requiring a new trial. State v. Malone, 256 N.C. App. 275,
291–95, 807 S.E.2d 639, 651–53 (2017). We affirm in part and reverse in part. The
Court of Appeals was correct in holding that the identification procedures at issue
here were impermissibly suggestive, but we conclude that they ultimately did not
violate defendant's statutory or due process rights because Cindy Alvarez’s
identification of defendant was of independent origin, based on what she saw at the
time of the shooting.
Background
The sun was still shining on the early fall evening in Burlington when a
neighbor’s security camera recorded two men pulling up to the house across the street
in a blue car and exiting. Less than two minutes later, the same two men are seen in
the video running back to the car, getting in and driving off in haste. Although there
were several people on the porch at the time Mr. Jones was fatally shot, no eyewitness
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to the shooting was able to identify defendant Malone within the first few days of the
murder. Witnesses agreed that during the confrontation, one of the two men who had
arrived in the blue car drew a handgun and fired multiple shots, killing Mr. Jones
and wounding another man, Micah White. In the hours following the shooting, police
focused their investigation on Marquis Spence, who was identified by eyewitnesses
immediately afterwards, and defendant, who witnesses said was with Mr. Spence
within two hours before the shooting.
Upon being arrested two days after the murder, defendant submitted to a
three- to four-hour police interview without counsel in which he maintained that he
was not in Burlington on October 23rd. The only direct evidence that defendant was
the man who shot Jones and White was the courtroom testimony of two women who
did not know him but who were on the porch of the house at the time of the shooting,
Claudia Lopez and her friend Cindy Alvarez. Other circumstantial evidence was
submitted by the State, including the testimony of witnesses who placed defendant
in the blue car with Mr. Spence earlier that day. They also testified that he was part
of the drug transaction alleged to have led to the shooting.
The State’s theory of the case, based on various witness’ testimony, is that
Spence and Malone, who lived on the same street in Durham, were virtually
inseparable drug dealers. On the afternoon in question, they arranged to purchase
“a pound of weed” for $1,200 from Mr. Jones and another man, Jared “Skip” Alston.
Mr. Malone gave Skip the money, expecting him to return in five minutes with the
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drugs. However, true to his name, Skip disappeared. Three women from Durham
testified to being present during some or all of these events, Calen Burnette, Arianna
McCray, and Lakreisha Shoffner. After efforts to locate Skip were unsuccessful, the
three women drove separately to Skip’s house while Spence and Malone told the
women not to worry, and that they were “going back to Raleigh to make some money.”
When the blue car driven by Mr. Spence pulled up outside Mr. Jones’s house
in Burlington just before 6 p.m. that evening, Mr. Jones was sitting on the steps.
Claudia Lopez was sitting on the arm of a chair approximately ten feet from Jones,
and Cindy Alvarez was sitting in a chair approximately five to six feet from the
shooter. Also on the porch were Skip’s brother Jordan, and the other victim, Micah
White. Tabias Sellars, Marcus Clayton and Gavin Jackson had just gone inside the
house. Two men exited the car and approached the steps. A short conversation
ensued between the driver and Jones concerning Skip’s location. When Mr. Jones
said that he did not have a phone number for Skip, four to six shots were fired, and
the two men ran back to the blue car and fled the scene.
Eyewitness Identifications in 2012
Police arriving at the home shortly after the shooting spoke with witnesses.
Micah White initially said he did not know which man had the gun, the driver or the
passenger. Claudia Lopez told police at the scene that “she saw one of the guys’ hand
in his pocket, could not remember which one, but could see a silver part of a gun.”
She also said, referring to the shorter man, that she “did not remember . . . any
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features of him.” Cindy Alvarez told the officer on the scene that the shooter had
dark freckles.
Two days after the shooting, Burlington Police prepared and administered two
photo lineups to witnesses, one including a picture of Marquis Spence and one with a
picture of Brandon Malone. Of the eyewitnesses to the shooting, Claudia Lopez
identified Mr. Spence as the man who spoke with Mr. Jones with confidence of 8 out
of 10. She did not identify Mr. Malone. Upon viewing the lineup a second time, Ms.
Lopez “paused” at Mr. Malone’s photo and said “That looks like him, but I’m not sure.”
The record of the photo lineup indicates no positive identification made by the
witness. Cindy Alvarez identified Mr. Spence as “the one who shot Kevette” with
confidence of 8 out of 10. She did not recognize Mr. Malone’s photo at all and
identified an entirely different photo as someone who “looks like” the man who
accompanied the shooter, but she stated she was not sure because she “focused on
[the] shooter because he had his hand in his pocket the whole time.” Approximately
a week or two after the shooting, Cindy Alvarez saw a photo of defendant on Facebook
and was immediately certain “that that was the guy that shot Kevette.” Ms. Lopez
saw the same photo, but did not recognize defendant. Micah White, who was shot in
the ankle, was unable to make a positive identification of either Mr. Spence or Mr.
Malone when shown a photo lineup.
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Subsequent Proceedings
On 5 November 2012, defendant was indicted for first-degree murder and
assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.1 For three
and a half years, the eyewitnesses had no contact with law enforcement. On 29
February 2016, approximately two weeks before the trial of this case was set to begin,
Iris Smith, a legal assistant at the District Attorney’s office, asked Lopez and Alvarez
to come to the old courthouse in Burlington where the District Attorney’s office was
located, to “confirm [their] identification of Malone.” Alvarez testified that “They
wanted to make sure that I was – I was – I mean, that I was saying who really – like,
who is who. Like, if I recognized them.” Smith testified that “I told them I had
pictures I wanted them to look at, updated pictures of the defendants.” Smith also
gave both witnesses copies of their video-recorded police interviews. Smith showed
them current photos of Malone and Spence, and asked Lopez and Alvarez if they
recognized them. According to Ms. Alvarez’s courtroom testimony, when she saw Mr.
Malone’s picture that day, she pointed to him and said that “he’s the one that killed
Kevette.”
Ms. Alvarez was upset about having to go through a trial and asked Iris Smith
what Mr. Malone was saying about the incident. Ms. Smith mentioned Mr. Malone’s
police interview and Ms. Alvarez asked to see it. They moved to another room in the
1 Defendant was subsequently indicted for discharging a weapon into occupied
property. That charge was dismissed at the close of the State’s evidence.
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courthouse, and Ms. Lopez sat down because she was having health issues. Ms.
Alvarez was standing near a window as the women waited for the video interview to
load. Ms. Smith showed Lopez and Alvarez somewhere between two to five minutes
of the video of Mr. Malone’s police interview. At some point Ms. Alvarez looked out
the window and said “that’s him, that’s the guy that shot Kevette.” The other two
women also came to the window and watched Mr. Malone, in prison clothes and
handcuffs, being escorted by a police officer from a police car and into the courthouse.
Mr. Malone was in court that day for a hearing in his case. After that the witnesses
left and Ms. Smith went in the court for the hearing. Ms. Alvarez told defendant’s
investigator that she went to the door of the courtroom, looked through the glass, and
“looked into the courtroom while he [Malone] was inside the courtroom.”
On 12 March 2016, defendant filed motions to suppress identification evidence
from two eyewitnesses to the shooting, Claudia Lopez and Cindy Alvarez, arguing
that the State subjected the witnesses to impermissibly suggestive identification
procedures. On 14 March 2016, the trial court held a hearing on defendant’s motions
to suppress. The State called several witnesses at the hearing, including Lopez and
Alvarez. In denying defendant’s suppression motion, the trial court made extensive
oral findings of fact, including:
That Claudia Lopez was ten feet away from Mr.
Jones when he was shot. That Cindy Alvarez was four feet
from the shooter when Mr. Jones was shot. [Ms. Lopez]
and [Ms. Alvarez] each gave some description of the two
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Opinion of the Court
males giving some information about clothing. [Ms. Lopez]
also described that the shooter had on a white T-shirt with
shoulder length hair and the speaker had [a] body piercing.
On [25 October] 2012, the Burlington Police
Department conducted an identification procedure with
[Ms. Lopez] and with [Ms. Alvarez]. Those procedures
involved photographic arrays, sometimes referred to by the
officer as photo line-ups.
In one array the Burlington Police Department used
a photo of Marquis Spence, who’s a charged co-defendant
in . . . connection with this matter. So [they] used a photo
of Marquis Spence and seven fillers. Filler being seven
folks who are not involved or have been excluded from
involvement in the incident under investigation.
In the other array the Burlington Police Department
used a photo of [Defendant] and seven fillers.
The Burlington Police Department did not use a
current photo of . . . [D]efendant as reflected the current
photo being introduced into evidence as State’s Exhibit No.
3. In part, because the background in the photo was
different from others and that there was some concern
about that causing . . . [D]efendant’s photo to stand out in
the array.
Further, Marquis Spence’s current photo showed
him with an eyebrow body piercing and Burlington Police
Department made the decision to attempt to locate a photo
without such piercing being in the photo so as not to cause
Marquis Spence's photo to stand out.
In . . . [D]efendant’s current photo he had an unusual
expression on his face as interpreted by the officer that the
Burlington Police Department thought might make it
stand out.
The Burlington Police Department instead used an
older photo of . . . [D]efendant obtained from the Division
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of Adult Correction website. In the photo that the
Burlington police used . . . [D]efendant’s hairstyle, which
the officer characterized as being plats, was different from
the hairstyle in the current photo, which the officer
characterized as dreadlocks. So the older photo had plats.
Current photo dreadlocks.
[Ms. Lopez] identified [number four] Marquis
Spence in the array involving that co-defendant.
At [the] hearing she referred to that identified
person as the male who did the talking. She reported her
level of confidence on that identification as an eight on a
scale of one to ten.
On the second array, [Ms. Lopez] indicated that
[number six], which was . . . [D]efendant, looked like him
but she was not sure and she initialed that she had not—
did not have a positive [identification].
[Ms. Alvarez identified number six], which was
Marquis Spence. She indicated she had an 80% level of
confidence and 100% if he had long dreads, and added that
. . . looked like the one that shot Kevette. So she identified
Marquis Spence in that connection.
[Ms. Alvarez] in the second array identified [number
seven]. This is the array that in which . . . [D]efendant’s
photo was located. [She] [i]dentified [number seven] who
is an individual named Danny Lee Johnson whose photo
was included as a filler. But she indicated that she was not
sure. She noted she focused on the shooter because he had
his hands in his pocket the whole time.
[Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] each saw photos of . . .
[D]efendant and Marquis Spence in the online newspaper.
These photos were not among those that were shown to
each of them by the Burlington Police Department in the
arrays. No law enforcement officer showed either [Ms.
Lopez] or [Ms. Alvarez] anymore photos other than the
ones shown during the course of the arrays.
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. . . [W]hen [Ms. Alvarez] saw the online newspaper
photos of . . . [D]efendant and Marquis Spence, she thought
to herself that these photos showed how they looked on the
day of the shooting.
Further, she thought that the photo of [D]efendant
was of the person who shot Kevette.
[Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] each went several
years without contact from the District Attorney’s office or
contacting the District Attorney’s office or without any
further interaction with law enforcement in connection
with all these events.
Each had contact with Iris Smith, victim witness
legal assistant with the Alamance County District
Attorney’s office in February of 2016 as trial date
approached.
[Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] each knew that there
was going to be a hearing in this case on [29 February]
2016, at the Alamance County Historic Courthouse.
Neither knew . . . whether . . . [D]efendant would be present
at the hearing. Iris Smith arranged to meet with each on
[29 February] in the furtherance of her trial preparation
duties. Because [Ms.] Smith was at the Historic
Courthouse attending to grand jury matters, she advised
[Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] . . . to meet her at the District
Attorney’s office in that building.
Smith gave [Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez], a copy of
her respective statement to officers and showed them
photos she had obtained of . . . [D]efendant and Marquis
Spence off of the Internet.
Up to the point when [Ms.] Smith downloaded the
Internet photos, the only photos in the [District Attorney]’s
file were the ones used in the photo arrays done by the
Burlington Police Department some years earlier.
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Opinion of the Court
The . . . photos shown by Smith on [29 February]
were the same photos that each [Ms. Lopez] and [Ms.
Alvarez] had already seen in the online newspaper some
time earlier.
[Ms.] Smith also began showing each a video of . . .
[D]efendant’s statement to law enforcement officers. [Ms.
Lopez] was seated at the time. [Ms. Alvarez] was standing
near the window of the room in which they were meeting.
[Ms. Alvarez] then stated, there he is, the one who
shot Kevette. [Ms. Lopez] and [Ms.] Smith got up and went
over to the window. At that time . . . [D]efendant was
exiting alone from a patrol unit parked adjacent to the
Historic Courthouse, accompanied by a law enforcement
officer, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and in handcuffs.
[Ms. Lopez] testified in court that she believed that
[D]efendant was the person who shot Kevette and based on
the events at the scene of the shooting and not the viewing
of the photos at the District Attorney’s office on [29
February] or the viewing of . . . [D]efendant exiting the law
enforcement unit on that day or the statement that [Ms.
Alvarez] made about . . . [D]efendant as he exited the unit.
[Ms. Alvarez] testified in court that her
identification of . . . [D]efendant was based on the events
surrounding the shooting and not on the [29 February]
2016, events in the [District Attorney’s] office.
Neither [Ms. Lopez] nor [Ms. Alvarez] knew . . .
[D]efendant nor Marquis Spence prior to the date of the
shooting. Assistant District Attorney Alex Dawson, the
[prosecutor] in this case, was not present during the
meeting on [29 February] 2016, at the Historic Courthouse.
Counsel are in near agreement, . . . that the amount
of time that [Ms. Alvarez] and [Ms. Lopez] were in a
position to observe the two males and the shooting was
from 75 to 90 seconds. So I took that matter as not being
in dispute . . . .
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Turning to whether the witnesses’ in-court identifications of defendant were
reliable and of independent origin, the trial court made additional findings:
One of the first factors [in determining whether an
identification is of independent origin] is the opportunity
to view the crime. The [c]ourt finds that the time that [Ms.
Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] had to view the two males and
the shooting was a short period of time from 75 to 90
seconds.
The [c]ourt does find that the event was a startling
event, one that would claim your attention or cause you to
pay no attention and flee from the situation.
That [Ms.] Lopez was within ten feet of the shooter
on the porch where Mr. Jones was shot and when he was
shot and [Ms.] Alvarez was four feet from Mr. Jones when
he was shot. That’s the opportunity to view. They were all
on the porch together.
[As to] [t]he degree of attention[,] [t]he [c]ourt finds
that the two indicated that they were paying attention to
the two males that came up and to Mr. Jones. The event
was a startling event, one that would cause the event to
stand out in their minds; that they gave a general
description of clothing, hair and body piercing and the car
and indication of who was driving the vehicle and who was
the passenger in the vehicle.
As to the accuracy of prior description . . . [Ms.]
Lopez described the shooter as having shoulder length
hair. . . . [D]efendant had shoulder length hair at or around
the time of the shooting. At the arrays of the Burlington
Police Department [Ms. Lopez] identified Marquis Spence
as the main talker. . . . also being the driver of the vehicle.
And [she] was not sure about . . . [D]efendant as the shooter
and did not make a positive [identification]. She did linger
over . . . [D]efendant’s photo during the course of the array.
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[Ms. Alvarez] identified Marquis Spence as the
shooter and did not pick . . . [D]efendant as the other person
[instead] picking a completely unassociated individual.
[As to] [t]he level of certainty demonstrated at the
confrontation, . . . [Ms. Alvarez] and [Ms. Lopez] had seen
these photos before so they were not new photos. . . . [Ms.]
Alvarez had recognized the photos as the two males as they
looked at or around the time of the shooting.
. . . [Ms. Lopez] and [Ms. Alvarez] each recognized . . .
[D]efendant as he exited the law enforcement unit. Both
appeared confident in their identifications during that
event . . . .
[In regard to] [t]he length of time between [the]
crime and [the] confrontation[,] [t]here [were]
approximately three and a half years between the shooting
and the [29 February] event. . . .
Based on these and other findings of fact, the trial court denied defendant’s motion
to suppress, concluding that the events on 29 February 2016 during which Ms. Lopez
and Ms. Alvarez saw photographs of Malone, viewed portions of his videotaped
interview, and saw him being led into the courthouse by police were “not
impermissibly suggestive.” The court further concluded that “based on the testimony
of the two witnesses, Claudia and Cindy, in the courtroom, that those identifications
are of independent origin.”
The jury found defendant guilty of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting
serious injury and first degree murder on the basis of both premeditation and
deliberation and the felony murder rule. The trial court imposed concurrent
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sentences of life without parole for the murder and 83 to 112 months for the assault.
Defendant gave notice of appeal.
At the Court of Appeals, defendant challenged the trial court’s denial of his
motions to suppress, arguing that the 29 February meeting constituted an
impermissibly suggestive identification procedure in violation of his due process
rights and the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act (EIRA). See N.C.G.S. §§ 15A-
284.50 to -284.53 (2017). The Court of Appeals agreed, determining first that the
trial court erred in concluding that the pretrial identification procedures were not
impermissibly suggestive:
The evidence admitted at trial demonstrates after the
shooting neither Lopez nor Alvarez were able to give
detailed descriptions of Defendant or positively identify
Defendant. Then, nearly three and a half years later and
approximately two weeks prior to trial, the witnesses met
with Smith, viewed a video of Defendant’s interview,
surveillance footage of the incident, and more recent
photographs of Defendant. It is likely the witnesses would
assume Smith showed them the photographs and videos
because the individuals portrayed therein were suspected
of being guilty.
Malone, 256 N.C. App. at 291, 807 S.E.2d at 650. Additionally, after identifying that
several of the trial court’s findings of fact were not supported by competent evidence,
the court determined that the trial court erred in concluding that the in-court
identifications of defendant were of independent origin, stating:
The short amount of time the witnesses had to view
Defendant, their inability to positively identify Defendant
two days after the incident, and their inconsistent
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descriptions demonstrate it is improbable that three and a
half years later they could positively identify Defendant
with accuracy absent the intervention by the District
Attorney’s office.
Id. at 293, 807 S.E.2d at 651. The Court of Appeals concluded that because the 29
February meeting constituted impermissibly suggestive identification procedures
and because the in-court identifications were not of independent origin, the
procedures violated defendant’s due process rights. Id. at 293, 807 S.E.2d at 651.
Finally, the court determined that the impermissible identification procedures were
not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore were prejudicial to defendant,
requiring a new trial. Id. at 294–95, 807 S.E.2d at 652–53.
One member of the panel dissented, opining first that there was no error in the
admission of Ms. Alvarez’s in-court identification because it had an independent
origin. Id. at 296, 807 S.E.2d at 653 (Dillon, J., dissenting). Next, the dissenting
judge stated that any error in admitting the in-court identification of Ms. Lopez was
harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in light of the other evidence against defendant.
Id. at 296–97, 807 S.E.2d at 653–54. Accordingly, the dissenting judge concluded that
there was “no reversible error.” Id. at 296, 807 S.E.2d at 653.
On 11 December 2017, the State filed a notice of appeal as of right based on
the dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2).
Additionally, the State filed a petition for discretionary review of additional issues,
which the Court allowed. In its petition, the State asks this Court to correct what it
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contends is the majority’s flawed interpretation of the EIRA in dicta, namely that “all
eyewitness identification procedures should comply with the requirements of the
EIRA” even though here the disputed procedures were conducted by a legal assistant
and by its terms, the EIRA applies to law enforcement officers.
Standard of Review
Our review of the denial of a motion to suppress is limited to determining
“whether competent evidence supports the trial court’s findings of fact and whether
the findings of fact support the conclusions of law.” State v. Biber, 365 N.C. 162, 167–
68, 712 S.E.2d 874, 878 (2011) (citing State v. Brooks, 337 N.C. 132, 140–41, 446
S.E.2d 579, 585 (1994)). “The trial court’s findings of fact ‘are conclusive on appeal if
supported by competent evidence, even if the evidence is conflicting.’ ” State v.
Saldierna, 371 N.C. 407, 421, 817 S.E.2d 174, 183 (2018) (quoting State v. Eason, 336
N.C. 730, 745, 445 S.E.2d 917, 926 (1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1096 (1995)), cert.
denied, 139 S. Ct. 1279 (2019). A trial court has the benefit of being able to assess
the credibility of witnesses, weigh and resolve any conflicts in the evidence, and find
the facts, all of which are owed great deference by this Court. State v. Cooke, 306
N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619–20 (1982).
However, the trial court’s conclusions of law are fully reviewable on appeal.
State v. McCollum, 334 N.C. 208, 237, 433 S.E.2d 144, 160 (1993) (citing State v.
Mahaley, 332 N.C. 583, 592–93, 423 S.E.2d 58, 64 (1992)), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1254
(1994). Similarly, this Court reviews the decision of the Court of Appeals for any
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error of law. Brooks, 337 N.C. at 149, 446 S.E.2d at 590 (citations omitted).
Furthermore, we agree with the Court of Appeals that the extent to which a witness’s
in-court identification has an independent origin is a question of law or legal inference
rather than a question of fact. See State v. Pulley, 180 N.C. App. 54, 65, 636 S.E.2d
231, 240 (2006).
Analysis
I. Due Process Claim
The governing law applicable to the issues before us in this case is well-
established. As a general proposition, “the jury, not the judge, traditionally
determines the reliability of evidence.” Perry v. New Hampshire, 565 U.S. 288, 245,
132 S. Ct. 716, 728, 181 L. Ed. 2d 694, 711 (2012). However, due process
considerations do place limitations upon the admission of eyewitness identification
evidence obtained as the result of impermissible official conduct. Id. at 248, 132 S.
Ct. at 730, 181 L. Ed. 2d at 713. The initial inquiry in which a reviewing court is
required to engage in conducting such a due process inquiry is “whether the
identification procedure was so suggestive as to create a substantial likelihood of
irreparable misidentification.” State v. Fowler, 353 N.C. 599, 617, 548 S.E.2d 684,
697–98 (2001) (citing U.S. v. Marson, 408 F.2d 644, 650 (4th Cir. 1968); State v.
Simpson, 327 N.C. 178, 186, 393 S.E.2d 771, 776 (1990); State v. Hannah, 312 N.C.
286, 290, 322 S.E.2d 148, 151 (1984)). In order to make the relevant determination,
the Court must utilize a two-step process, with the first step requiring the Court to
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“determine whether the identification procedures were impermissibly suggestive,”
Fowler, 353 N.C. at 617, 548 S.E.2d at 698 (citing State v. Powell, 321 N.C. 364, 368–
69, 364 S.E.2d 332, 335 (1988); Hannah, 312 N.C. at 290, 322 S.E.2d at 151; State v.
Headen, 295 N.C. 437, 439, 245 S.E.2d 706, 708 (1978)), and with the second step,
which becomes relevant in the event that “the procedures were impermissibly
suggestive,” requiring the Court to determine “whether the procedures create a
substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.” Fowler, 353 N.C. at 617, 548
S.E.2d at 698 (citing Powell, 321 N.C. at 369, 364 S.E.2d at 335; Hannah, 312 N.C. at
290, 322 S.E.2d at 151; Headen, 295 N.C. at 493, 245 S.E.2d at 708). Even if the
witness was subjected to impermissibly suggestive identification procedures, that
witness’s in-court identification testimony may still be admissible in the event that
the trial court finds “that the in-court identification has an origin independent of the
invalid pretrial procedure” because, in that case, the procedures have not created a
substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. State v. Bundridge, 294 N.C.
45, 56, 239 S.E.2d 811, 819 (1978) (citing U.S. v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 242, 87 S. Ct.
1926, 1940, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1149, 1166 (1967); State v. Henderson, 285 N.C. 1, 12, 203
S.E.2d 10, 18 (1974)); see also Powell, 321 N.C. at 369, 364 S.E.2d at 336 (upholding
a trial court determination that “the in-court identification of the defendant was of
independent origin and untainted by illegal pretrial procedures”); State v. Harris, 308
N.C. 159, 166, 201 S.E.2d 91, 96 (1983) (holding that, “[e]ven assuming arguendo that
the pretrial photographic lineup procedure could be found impermissibly suggestive,
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
we find more than adequate evidence to support the trial court’s decision to hold [the
witness’s] in-court identification admissible as being of independent origin”); State v.
Thompson, 303 N.C. 169, 172, 277 S.E.2d 431, 434 (1981) (finding “adequate evidence
in the record to support the trial court’s decision holding the in-court identification
admissible as being of independent origin”).
In determining whether the witness’s in-court identification had the necessary
independent origin, a court should consider “the opportunity of the witness to view
the accused at the time of the crime, the witness’ degree of attention at the time, the
accuracy of his prior description of the accused, the witness’ level of certainty in
identifying the accused at the time of the confrontation, and the time between the
crime and the confrontation.” Thompson, 303 N.C. at 172, 277 S.E.2d at 434 (citing
Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 200, 93 S. Ct. 375, 382, 34 L. Ed. 2d 401, 411 (1971);
Headen, 295 N.C. at 437, 245 S.E.2d at 706). It is not necessary for the Court to find
that all five of the relevant factors militate in favor of a finding of independent origin
in order to admit a witness’s in-court identification into evidence despite the fact that
impermissibly suggestive identification procedures had taken place during the
investigative process. Powell, 321 N.C. at 370, 364 S.E.2d at 336. However, “[a]gainst
these factors must be weighed the corrupting effect of the suggestive procedure itself.”
State v. Pigott, 320 N.C. 96, 100, 357 S.E.2d 631, 634 (1987) (citing Manson v.
Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114, 97 S. Ct. 2243, 2253, 53 L. Ed. 2d 140, 154 (1977)).
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
We first consider whether the procedures were impermissibly suggestive. The
partial concurrence suggests that we should not address this issue. However, it is
the first part of a two-part test. We have stated that “[t]his due process analysis
requires a two-part inquiry. First, the Court must determine whether the
identification procedures were impermissibly suggestive.” Fowler, 353 N.C. at 617,
548 S.E.2d at 698 (emphasis added); accord State v. Rogers, 355 N.C. 420, 432, 562
S.E.2d 859, 868 (2002). We are not required to skip part of the analysis. See State v.
Knight, 282 N.C. 220, 226–27, 192 S.E.2d 283, 287–88 (1972) (concluding first that
identification procedure was impermissibly suggestive and then determining it was
of independent origin); but see Powell, 231 N.C. at 369, 364 S.E.2d at 336 (assuming
arguendo that procedures were impermissibly suggestive and continuing to the
second part of the inquiry). Thus, while the partial concurrence “do[es] not believe
that there is any need for the Court to address the issue of whether Ms. Alvarez was
subjected to impermissibly subjective identification procedures,” our precedents
suggest that we should. The independent origin inquiry, on which both our and the
partial concurrence’s conclusions are based, is merely the second part of the due
process inquiry.2
2 The partial concurrence is, of course, correct that we generally “avoid constitutional
questions, even if properly presented, where a case may be resolved on other grounds.”
Anderson v. Assimos, 356 N.C. 415, 416 572 S.E.2d 101, 102 (2002). However, the
constitutional question here is whether due process requires the suppression of eyewitness
identification evidence. Our precedents identify this as a two-part inquiry, and by
addressing, rather than assuming, the first and logically necessary part of the test, we
provide useful guidance on what constitutes an unnecessarily suggestive identification
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
On the first question, the Court of Appeals correctly examined the trial court’s
findings of fact and found that they did not support the conclusion of law that the
procedures used were not impermissibly suggestive. In particular, Ms. Smith’s
actions in showing Lopez and Alvarez the video of Mr. Malone’s interview and recent
photographs of Malone and Spence are exactly the kind of highly suggestive
procedures that have been widely condemned as inherently suggestive. See Stovall
v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 302, 87 S. Ct. 1967, 1972–73, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1199, 1206 (1967);
State v. Oliver, 302 N.C. 28, 45, 274 S.E.2d 183, 194 (1981). The U.S. Supreme Court
has held that single-suspect identification procedures “clearly convey[ ] the
suggestion to the witness that the one presented is believed guilty by the police.”
Wade, 388 U.S. at 234, 87 S. Ct. at 1936, 18 L. Ed. 2d at 1161. Here, Ms. Smith did
more than simply convey a suggestion. “[I]n the furtherance of her trial preparation
duties,” she effectively told Lopez and Alvarez that they were viewing pictures of the
men police believed were responsible for the shooting by “show[ing] them photos she
had obtained of the defendant and Marquis Spence” in a meeting two weeks before
trial.
The State contends that this was not an “identification procedure” because Ms.
Smith was only engaging in witness preparation in anticipation of their upcoming
procedure. Moreover, given that the trial court held that the procedures were not
impermissibly suggestive, we should explain why we disagree rather than simply “assume”
the opposite.
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
trial testimony and that Ms. Smith only showed them the video of Mr. Malone’s
interview because Ms. Alvarez asked to see it. Neither Ms. Lopez nor Ms. Alvarez
identified Mr. Malone when shown a photo lineup two days after the shooting.
Further, Ms. Alvarez identified someone other than Mr. Malone as the shooter and
picked an entirely different “filler” person as the second person involved. After that,
as found by the trial court, “[n]o law enforcement officer showed either Claudia or
Cindy anymore photos other than the ones shown during the course of the arrays. . .
. [E]ach went several years without contact from the District Attorney’s office or
contacting the District Attorney’s office or without any further interaction with law
enforcement in connection with all these events.” Under these circumstances, for
Lopez and Alvarez to be shown pictures and a videotaped interview, even for just a
few minutes, of the person now on trial for murder goes far beyond the line where
trial preparation ends and witness coaching begins. The facts as found by the trial
court in this case lead inescapably to the legal conclusion that the procedures
employed by the District Attorney’s office on 29 February 2016 were impermissibly
suggestive.
To be clear, our conclusion that impermissibly suggestive procedures were
used in this case is based on the photographs and video of Mr. Malone that Ms. Lopez
and Ms. Alvarez viewed a few days before trial.
Although an impermissibly suggestive identification procedure was used
during the 29 February 2016 meeting between Ms. Smith, Ms. Lopez, and Ms.
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
Alvarez, the second question is whether the procedure gave rise to a substantial
likelihood of irreparable misidentification. On this second question we disagree with
the majority below because the trial court’s findings of fact support the legal
conclusion that Ms. Alvarez’s in-court identification of defendant was of independent
origin and sufficiently reliable.
We examine the five factors set out in State v. Pigott, 320 N.C. at 99–100, 357
S.E.2d at 634, as to each witness, namely the opportunity of the witness to view the
defendant at the time of the crime, the witness’s degree of attention, the accuracy of
any prior description of the defendant, the level of certainty demonstrated by the
witness at the time of the confrontation, and the time between the crime and the
confrontation. The trial court’s findings with respect to independent origin begin with
the witnesses’ opportunity to view the crime. Here there are some differences
between the two eyewitnesses. While both had the same “short period of time from
75 to 90 seconds” within which to view the two males and the shooting, Ms. Alvarez
was much closer, just four feet, from Mr. Jones when he was shot while Ms. Lopez
was within ten feet of the shooter on the porch. This factor supports a finding of
independent origin for Ms. Alvarez, and does so more strongly than for Ms. Lopez.3
3 The relative strength of the reliability of the two eyewitnesses’ identifications of
defendant is significant because it explains why we hold that Ms. Alvarez’s testimony was
properly admitted and that any error in admitting Ms. Lopez’s testimony was harmless.
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
Similarly, as to degree of attention, the trial court found that Ms. Alvarez and
Ms. Lopez “indicated that they were paying attention.” The trial court’s finding was
supported by the evidence, at least as to Ms. Alvarez. Ms. Alvarez stated that she
was “paying attention to him the minute he got out of the car.” Asked why, she said
it was because “he had his hands in his pocket the whole time. One of his hands in
his pocket the whole time. He wasn’t really speaking. He wasn’t saying nothing.
And for some reason, like, I was just focused on him the whole time.” In contrast, Ms.
Lopez, when asked what she remembered of the person who actually fired the gun,
responded that “[h]im specifically, his face, um, I was in shock, like I said, that day
so the only thing I remember him about is his hair, that it was about this long.” Later
she testified “I never really paid much attention to his face because the whole time
he was standing in front of us he just had his hand in his pocket.” This factor again
supports a finding of independent origin as to the in-court identification by Ms.
Alvarez and does so more strongly than for Ms. Lopez.
Regarding the accuracy of the prior description, the trial court made the
following findings of fact as to Ms. Lopez: (1) Ms. Lopez described the shooter as
having shoulder-length hair, (2) Ms. Lopez identified Marquis Spence as one of the
two suspects, particularly as the person who did not shoot Mr. Jones, and (3) although
she lingered over defendant’s photo during the photo lineup, she did not identify
defendant or anyone else in the lineup as the second suspect who had shot Jones. The
trial court made the following findings as to Ms. Alvarez: (1) Ms. Alvarez identified
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
Marquis Spence as one of the two suspects, particularly as the person who did shoot
Mr. Jones, (2) Ms. Alvarez did not identify defendant as the second suspect when
presented with a photo lineup, and (3) Ms. Alvarez identified a “completely
unassociated individual” as the second suspect when presented with a photo lineup.
While Ms. Lopez accurately described defendant’s shoulder-length hair, this appears
to be the only accurate detail identified by the trial court. Significantly, Ms. Alvarez
had a credible explanation of why she was unable to identify defendant from the photo
lineup conducted by police two days after the incident, but immediately identified
him upon seeing a picture on Facebook, namely because of the difference in his hair.
She testified that had the officers shown her the picture she saw on Facebook, she
would have been able to identify defendant as the shooter because in the Facebook
picture he had his hair down similar to how it looked on the day of the murder.
Accordingly, this factor somewhat undermines a finding of independent origin as to
both witnesses, but with less force as to Ms. Alvarez.
Regarding the level of certainty, the trial court found and the evidence reflects
that, at the time of the meeting with Iris Smith, Ms. Alvarez “recognized the photos
as the two males as they looked at or around the time of the shooting.” In particular
and, in our view, most importantly as to this factor, the trial court found that both
Lopez and Alvarez had seen the photos before and that Ms. Alvarez, upon seeing the
photos on her own, independently recognized defendant as one of the two people
involved in the shooting soon after the shooting had taken place. Ms. Alvarez testified
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
that, upon seeing a photo of defendant on Facebook a week or two after the incident,
which she had not been shown in the lineup, and which showed his hair in the way
he was wearing it at the time of the shooting, she was sure that he was the person
who shot Mr. Jones.
Ms. Lopez, however, did not recognize defendant as the shooter based either
on the photos or on viewing the defendant as he exited the police car on 29 February
2016.4 Therefore, while Alvarez identified defendant with a high degree of certainty,
apparently based on her exposure to photographs between the time she spoke with
police and the time she spoke to the District Attorney’s office, Lopez did not identify
defendant with any degree of certainty at the time of the confrontation. This factor
supports a finding of independent origin as to the in-court identification by Alvarez,
but undermines such a finding for the identification by Lopez.
Finally, as to the length of time between the crime and the confrontation, the
trial court accurately found that approximately three and a half years passed between
the shooting and the impermissibly suggestive events of 29 February 2016. However,
only a week or two passed between the crime and Ms. Alvarez’s identification of
defendant from the Facebook picture. This factor undermines a finding of
4 While the trial court found that Ms. Lopez recognized Mr. Malone as he exited the
police car, the Court of Appeals majority accurately noted that this finding was not supported
by evidence.
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
independent origin as to Ms. Lopez but not as to Ms. Alvarez, since Ms. Alvarez
identified defendant shortly after the crime.
Ultimately, weighing factors such as these is not an exercise employed with
mathematical precision. Certain factors may be more important than others
depending upon the nature of the impermissibly suggestive procedure as well as the
particular facts of the case. “Whether there is a substantial likelihood of
misidentification depends upon the totality of the circumstances.” State v. Pigott, 320
N.C. at 99, 357 S.E.2d at 634 (citing State v. Flowers, 318 N.C. 208, 220, 347 S.E.2d
773, 781 (1986)). In this case, we conclude that in the totality of the circumstances,
Ms. Alvarez’s opportunity to view the crime, the degree of attention she paid to the
suspects, the short period of time between the crime and her identifying defendant
from an accurate picture, and the certainty of her identification outweigh her
inaccurate initial description. Weighing against this the possible impact of the
impermissibly suggestive procedures, the evidence demonstrates that for Ms.
Alvarez, her identification was made long before seeing the video of defendant’s
interview with police or the pictures that Ms. Smith showed her, such that those
procedures had no impact on her identification and did not create the risk of a
misidentification.
According to the trial court’s findings of fact, supported by the evidence
adduced at the pretrial hearing, Ms. Alvarez’s identification of defendant was based
primarily upon the impression she formed after seeing a photograph of the defendant
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
on a Facebook page, independent from any police- or prosecutor-led identification
proceeding. She saw the photograph one or two weeks after the shooting and, at that
time, was confident that defendant was the shooter. This fact, in conjunction with
the factors discussed above, convinces us that the trial court correctly concluded that
Ms. Alvarez’s in-court identification had an origin that was independent of the
impermissibly suggestive identification procedure conducted by the State. Assuming
that the identification testimony of Ms. Lopez was improper because it lacked an
independent origin, any failure to suppress it was not prejudicial because Ms.
Alvarez’s in-court identification was properly admitted. With one witness confidently
identifying defendant as the shooter, we believe beyond any reasonable doubt that
suppressing a second identification would not change the outcome here. See N.C.G.S.
§ 15A-1443(c) (providing that a violation of a defendant’s federal constitutional rights
is prejudicial unless harmless beyond a reasonable doubt).
II. EIRA Claim
In addition to the constitutional claim, there is also before us a statutory claim
that the events of the 29 February 2016 meeting between eyewitnesses Lopez and
Alvarez and Iris Smith violated the EIRA, which defendant asserts in the alternative
if we were to reverse the Court of Appeals on the due process claim and the State
brings to us by way of a petition for discretionary review. The State contends that the
EIRA explicitly only addresses the actions of law enforcement officers and therefore
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STATE V. MALONE
Opinion of the Court
is inapplicable to this case because the allegedly impermissibly suggestive
identification procedures here were carried out by an employee of the District
Attorney’s office. Because the Court of Appeals stated in dicta that the EIRA applies
to all eyewitness identification procedures, the State argues this Court should clarify
the law. Defendant urges us to take a more comprehensive view of the purpose of
EIRA, and, to remand for consideration of defendant’s EIRA claim if we do not affirm
the majority on his constitutional claim. It is a question of first impression for this
Court, but one that we do not need to address at this time because of our disposition
of defendant’s constitutional claim. Our holding here is that, while the identification
procedures used by Ms. Smith in the days before trial were impermissibly suggestive,
the relevant in-court identification was of independent origin and sufficiently
reliable; thus, there is nothing further to be added by concluding that the EIRA does
or does not apply.
Conclusion
Thus, for the reasons set forth above, we hold that the Court of Appeals
properly found that Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Lopez were subjected to witness
identification procedures that were impermissibly suggestive, but erred in failing to
recognize that the evidence demonstrates that Ms. Alvarez’s identification was
sufficiently of independent origin to negate a substantial likelihood of a
misidentification.
AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART.
-29-
Justice ERVIN, concurring in the result, in part, and dissenting, in part.
Although I concur in the Court’s determinations that the trial court did not err
by finding that Ms. Alvarez’s identification of defendant as the perpetrator of the
killing of Mr. Jones and the shooting of Mr. White had an origin independent of any
impermissibly suggestive identification procedures to which she might have been
subjected and that any error that the trial court might have committed in admitting
the identification testimony of Ms. Lopez was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt
given the admission of Ms. Alvarez’s identification testimony, coupled with the
existence of other evidence tending to show defendant’s involvement in the
commission of the crimes that he was convicted of committing, I am unable to agree
with the Court’s decision to address the “impermissible suggestibility” issue and with
aspects of the manner in which the Court has made its “impermissible suggestibility”
and “independent origin” determinations. As a result, I concur in the result reached
in the Court’s opinion, in part, and dissent from the Court’s opinion, in part.
In its opinion, the Court affirms the Court of Appeals’ decision to overturn that
portion of the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion to suppress the
identification testimony of Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Lopez based upon a determination
that the identification procedures that led to the challenged identification testimony
were “impermissibly suggestive.” State v. Fowler, 353 N.C. 599, 617, 538 S.E.2d 684,
698 (2001) (citing State v. Powell, 321 N.C. 364, 368-69, 364 S.E.2d 332, 335 (1988);
State v. Hannah, 312 N.C. 286, 290, 322 S.E.2d 148, 151 (1984); State v. Headen, 295
STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
N.C. 437, 439, 245 S.E.2d 706, 708 (1978)). I am unable to join this portion of the
Court’s opinion for at least two reasons.
As an initial matter, while I share the Court’s discomfort with certain of the
events that occurred during the meeting that was held between Ms. Smith, Ms.
Alvarez, and Ms. Lopez in the Alamance County Historic Courthouse, I do not believe
that there is any need for the Court to address the issue of whether Ms. Alvarez was
subjected to impermissibly subjective identification procedures during that meeting.
In light of the Court’s determination, in which I concur, that Ms. Alvarez’s testimony
identifying defendant as the person who killed Mr. Jones and wounded Mr. White
had an origin that was independent of any impermissibly suggestive identification
procedures to which she might have been subjected, any decision that we might make
with respect to the issue of “whether the identification procedure was so suggestive
as to create a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification,” id., would be of
little more than academic interest. According to well-established North Carolina law,
a reviewing court should “avoid constitutional questions, even if properly presented,
where a case may be resolved on other grounds.” Anderson v. Assimos, 356 N.C. 415,
416, 572 S.E.2d 101, 102 (2002). See also Union Carbide Corp. v. Davis, 253 N.C.
324, 327, 116 S.E.2d 792, 794 (1960) (stating that “[c]ourts must pass on
constitutional questions when, but only when, they are squarely presented and
necessary to the disposition of a matter then pending and at issue”). A witness’s in-
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STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
court identification testimony is admissible in the event of a finding “that the in-court
identification has an origin independent of the invalid pretrial procedure” regardless
of the extent, if any, to which the witness in question was subject to an impermissibly
suggestive identification procedure. State v. Bundridge, 294 N.C. 45, 46, 239 S.E.2d
811, 819 (1978) (citing U.S. v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 242, 87 S. Ct. 1926, 1940, 18 L. Ed
2d 1149, 1166 (1967); State v. Henderson, 285 N.C. 1, 12, 203 S.E.2d 10, 18 (1974));
see also State v. Harris, 308 N.C. 159, 166, 201 S.E.2d 91, 96 (1983) (holding that,
“[e]ven assuming arguendo that the pretrial photographic lineup procedure could be
found impermissibly suggestive, we find more than adequate evidence to support the
trial court’s decision to hold [the witness’s] in-court identification admissible as being
of independent origin”). Thus, given that we have decided that the trial court did not
err by finding Ms. Alvarez’s identification of defendant as a perpetrator of the crimes
charged to be of “independent origin,” I see no need to address the merits of
defendant’s contention that Ms. Alvarez had been subjected to impermissibly
suggestive identification procedures and dissent from the Court’s decision to do so.
Secondly, I have concerns about certain statements that the Court has made
in addressing the “impermissible suggestibility” issue. According to the applicable
standard of review, an appellate court reviewing a trial court order granting or
denying a suppression motion “is strictly limited to determining whether the trial
judge’s underlying findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, in which
-3-
STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
case they are conclusively binding on appeal, and whether those factual findings in
turn support the judge’s ultimate conclusions of law.” State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132,
134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1982) (citing State v. Thompson, 303 N.C. 169, 277 S.E.2d
413 (1981); State v. Gray, 268 N.C. 69, 150 S.E.2d 1 (1966); 4 Strong’s N.C. Index 3d
§ 175 (1976). In light of the applicable standard of review, I am concerned about the
Court’s statement that Ms. Smith “effectively told [Ms.] Lopez and [Ms.] Alvarez that
they were viewing pictures of the men [that] police believed were responsible for the
shooting.” After carefully reviewing the trial court’s findings, I am unable to find any
support of this assertion. Similarly, without otherwise commenting upon the manner
in which Ms. Smith conducted her meeting with Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Lopez, I am not
certain that the trial court’s findings fully support the Court’s comment that, “for
[Ms.] Lopez and [Ms.] Alvarez to be shown pictures and a videotaped interview, even
for just a few minutes, of the person now on trial for murder goes far beyond the line
where trial preparation ends and witness coaching begins.” As a result, aside from
my belief that the Court would be better advised to refrain from discussing the
“impermissible suggestibility” issue at all, I am not persuaded that the analysis upon
which my colleagues rely is fully consistent with the applicable standard of review.
Finally, while I agree with my colleagues that the trial court’s findings support
its conclusion that the identification testimony of Ms. Alvarez had an origin
independent of any impermissibly suggestive identification procedures to which she
-4-
STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
might have been subjected, I am concerned about the extent to which the Court’s
discussion of the “independent origin” issue relies upon an analysis of the testimony
received at the suppression hearing rather than upon the findings of fact that the
trial court made at the conclusion of that proceeding.1 In addition, in light of the
Court’s decision to uphold the trial court’s determination that the identification by
Ms. Alvarez of defendant as the perpetrator of the crimes was of “independent origin”
and the Court’s related decision that the admission of Ms. Alvarez’s identification
testimony suffices to render any error that the trial court may have committed in
admitting Ms. Lopez’s identification testimony harmless beyond a reasonable doubt,
I see no need to address the relative strength of the State’s independent origin
showing as between Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Lopez and do not believe that the relative
strength of the identification testimony provided by the two witnesses sheds any light
upon the non-prejudice analysis that we are called upon to conduct in this case.
All of that being said, however, I am fully satisfied that the trial court’s
findings of fact, which reflect a careful consideration of each of the factors that are
relevant to the making of an “independent origin” determination, Thompson, 303
N.C. at 172, 277 S.E.2d at 434 (citing Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S. Ct. 375, 34
L. Ed. 2d 401, 411 (1971); Headen, 295 N.C. 437, 245 S.E.2d 706), support the trial
1For example, the Court’s discussion of the degree to which Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Lopez
were paying attention at the time that they observed the killing of Mr. Jones and the shooting
of Mr. White rests, to a considerable extent, upon an analysis of testimony admitted at the
suppression hearing rather than the trial court’s factual findings.
-5-
STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
court’s determination that Ms. Alvarez’s identification of defendant as the
perpetrator of the crimes charged was of independent origin. Among other things,
the trial court found that Ms. Alvarez was within four feet of the perpetrators at the
time that the offense was committed; that the offenses were committed over a period
of 75 to 90 seconds; that the shooting of Mr. Jackson and Mr. White was a “startling
event” “that would claim your attention or cause you to pay no attention and flee from
the situation”; that Ms. Alvarez was “paying close attention to the two males that
came up and to Mr. Jones”; that Ms. Alvarez “gave a general description of clothing,
hair and body piercing and the car”; that Ms. Alvarez recognized defendant as one of
the perpetrators of the crimes charged when she saw an on-line photo of defendant;
and that Ms. Alvarez appeared confident in the accuracy of her identification
testimony. Thus, I concur in the Court’s ultimate determination that the trial court
did not err by concluding that the testimony of Ms. Alvarez identifying defendant as
one of the perpetrators of the killing of Mr. Jones and the shooting of Mr. White had
an origin independent of any impermissibly suggestive identification procedures to
which she had been subjected and that the admission of Ms. Alvarez’s identification
testimony, coupled with the other evidence tending to show defendant’s involvement
of the commission of the crimes charged, rendered any error that the trial court might
have committed in admitting Ms. Lopez’s identification testimony harmless beyond a
-6-
STATE V. MALONE
Ervin, J., concurring in the result in part and
dissenting in part
reasonable doubt. As a result, for all of these reasons, I concur in the result reached
in the Court’s opinion in part, and dissent from the Court’s opinion, in part.
Justices NEWBY and HUDSON join in this separate opinion.
-7-