U.S. v. Sanders

In prosecution on kidnapping and extortion charges, Dist. Ct. did not err in admitting victim’s identification of defendant as culprit, even though initial identification came after police officer showed victim two pictures of defendant two hours after victim had escaped from confinement. While showing victim instant photographs that contained images of defendant and another individual was akin to “show up” procedure that posed risk of being suggestive, no error occurred in admission of said evidence where circumstances indicted that said procedure was necessary to assist police to act quickly to apprehend culprit who was still at large. As such, jury, as opposed to Dist. Ct., was entity responsible for determining reliability of defendant’s identification. Ct. further found that any error in introduction of said evidence was harmless where others identified defendant as culprit, and where defendant’s phone records indicated that defendant’s phone traveled approximately same path as kidnappers at same time of crime.