10-1764 U.S. v. White

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Evidence
Lay witness identification

It was not error to permit the defendant’s sister and ex-girlfriend testify that he is the individual in a photograph taken during a bank robbery.

“While White did not wear a disguise, the view of his appearance in the surveillance video and in still shots was limited by his attire—he wore a bulky winter coat closed up to his chin and a hat pulled down to his eyebrows. The surveillance video was also not of the best quality. In fact, at trial, White’s attorney claimed that even if the jury watched ‘that video a hundred times,’ they would not ‘get a good enough look at the person involved to determine who is the bank robber.’ He later added: ‘No reasonable human being can make out in that photograph sufficient features to determine who is depicted there.’ Also, as noted above, White’s theory of defense was that the man depicted in the still photographs was really Uncle Bill, and White’s attorney argued that the robber’s hat prevented the jury from determining whether the man robbing the bank had grey hair (like Uncle Bill), or black hair, like White. Finally, while cross-examining the teller, White’s attorney argued that because White and his uncle were relatives, the teller could easily have mistaken White for his uncle. Because both Shenay and Saylor knew White and Uncle Bill, they were able to provide the jury with helpful insight regarding the true identity of the man shown in the surveillance video and counter White’s claim that the still photograph really depicted Uncle Bill. In fact, in questioning Saylor after she identified White as the individual shown in the photograph, the government asked: ‘And you made that identification having seen both Tremaine White and knowing the appearance of William Cole, correct?’ Saylor responded ‘yes.’ All of these circumstances make Shenay and Saylor’s lay opinion testimony helpful to the jury and thus admissible under Rule 701.”

Affirmed.

10-1764 U.S. v. White

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kapala, J., Manion, J.

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