Proper method of photographic identification
persida-acosta
Dear PAO,
A man was killed while attending our town's foundation day festivities. The police conducted an initial investigation. However, since the initial witnesses could not positively identify any suspect, the police entered into its blotter entry "unidentified suspects still at large." During the trial, the same witnesses now claimed to have identified with certainty the suspects after being shown, at the police station, the pictures of alleged suspects who are members of a notorious gang in our town. One of the suspects is my son. Is there any flaw with the way the suspects were identified?
Lorna
Dear Lorna,
Positive identification of the witnesses displayed during trial is not enough to convict an accused. The prosecution must show that the identified person matches the original description made by the same witnesses when initially reporting the crime. Otherwise said, the conviction of the accused hinges less on the certainty displayed by witnesses at the witness stand but more on the certainty they displayed and the accuracy they manifested at the initial and original opportunity to identify the perpetrators. This opinion finds support in the latest decision of the Supreme Court in the case of People v. Mark John Maantos et al., GR 258925, July 12, 2023, penned by Associate Justice Mario v. Lopez, where the Court held:
"In this given situation, Maantos and his co-accused were identified by Escala and Litua after the police investigator showed them the photos of members of the Crips gang. In People v. Ansano, we declared that this seemingly innocuous process of photographic identification is impermissibly suggestive. Since human memory is highly susceptible to suggestion, there is a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification during the procedure. This is particularly true in Maantos' case because of his notoriety as a gang leader in the locality. Thus, in People v. Rodrigo, the Court stressed that the proper method of photographic identification should be: 'first, a series of photographs must be shown and not merely that of the suspect; and second, when a witness is shown a group of pictures, their arrangement and display should in no way suggest which one of the pictures pertain to the suspect.'
"Unfortunately, there is no showing that the law enforcers followed the correct photographic identification procedures in this case. When Escala and Litua were summoned to the police station more than a week after the incident, the pictures presented to them were those of the members of the Crips gang. Clearly, this approach is highly suggestive because it drew attention to no one else except the members of the gang, specifically Maantos, who is their leader. Besides, there was no explanation why, out of all the individuals who attended the Charter day celebration, the police investigators singled out the Crips gang, when there was no mention of their group's involvement prior to their identification by Escala and Litua. In fact, the two blotter entries made on the same day of the incident plainly stated that the 'suspects are... unidentified' without any description or reference to any person, group, or gang."
Applying the foregoing in your case, it is clear that there is reasonable doubt with respect to the way the witnesses identified the suspects during the trial because the former only claimed to have certainly identified the suspects after they were shown a list of alleged suspects at the police station. Yet, during the initial police investigation, they failed immediately to identify the suspects. This inconsistency is material because at issue is the very participation of the alleged suspects in the crime.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.
Editor's note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney's Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]