State v. Cosey

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Eugene T. Cosey’s motion to suppress a confidential informant’s identification of him. The court held that although the single-photograph identification procedure was suggestive, the identification was sufficiently reliable under the totality of the circumstances and therefore admissible.

Holdings

1. An out-of-court identification obtained through an unnecessarily suggestive police procedure is not automatically excluded. The trial court must determine whether the procedure was unnecessarily suggestive and, if so, whether it rendered the identification unreliable under the totality of the circumstances.
2. The informant's identification of Cosey was sufficiently reliable to be admitted despite the suggestive photographic procedure.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court erred by admitting an out-of-court identification obtained through an unnecessarily suggestive single-photograph procedure.
2. Whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the identification was sufficiently reliable that it did not present a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.

Disposition

affirmed