SCOTUS upholds New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling on eye witness testimony
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January 12, 2012
Washington D.C. The Supreme Court of the United States recently upheld a ruling from the New Hampshire Supreme Court reaffirming that there was no constitutional safeguard against the use of eye-witness testimony at criminal trials. In the 8-1 ruling penned by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg upheld the conviction of Barion Perry despite his allegation that the eye witness testimony used to convict him was obtained under suggestive circumstances. Perry, a New Hampshire citizen, was arrested for allegedly breaking into a parked car in a parking lot. Perry was apprehended and the woman identified him at the scene but was unable to identify him in a photo line-up later. Perry argued that she identified him merely because he was standing next to a police officer. The case was upheld by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. In her opinion, justice Ginsburg argued that the jury was free to estimate the reliability of any witness on its own, and "where there is no improper police conduct, there is nothing to deter." In the sole dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the court should take a stronger stance on the reliability of eye witness testimony, stating, "The empirical evidence demonstrates that eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions in this country."[1]
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Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Hampshire • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Hampshire
State courts:
New Hampshire Supreme Court • New Hampshire Superior Courts • New Hampshire Circuit Courts • New Hampshire Probate Courts • New Hampshire District Court • New Hampshire Family Division
State resources:
Courts in New Hampshire • New Hampshire judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Hampshire
