A. Notice

JurisdictionNew York

A. Notice

When the People intend to introduce testimony at trial regarding an observation of the accused, either at the time and place of the commission of the offense or upon some other occasion, including a photographic identification,308 the prosecutor must serve a CPL § 710.30 "identification" notice within 15 days of the accused's arraignment.309 Any application after this period to serve the notice may be summarily denied, even if there is no showing of prejudice to the accused.310

The People are not required to give identification notice under CPL § 710.30(1)(b) when the parties know each other,311 and when the identification was not a police-arranged procedure.312 However, when the police place the witness in a police car and "canvass" the neighborhood, notice must be given and a hearing held to determine if the identification was spontaneous and not subject to any degree of police suggestion.313

Similarly, no notice is necessary if the identification was confirmatory in nature.314 However, if the People fail to set forth in sufficient detail facts upon which the trial court can determine that the parties were genuinely known to each other, a hearing should be held to determine if the identification procedure was genuinely confirmatory.315

It has been held that a surveillance officer's identification of a drug seller made four weeks after the event was neither confirmatory nor a result of prior knowledge. Consequently, the failure to serve a CPL § 710.30 notice led to suppression of the identification.316 A lesser lapse between observation and identification can trigger the need for a hearing where an incorrect address was written in a surveillance report.317

Once the People serve identification notice, the accused must...

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