State v. Ruiz

Citations

• 337 Conn. 612

Syllabus

The defendant appealed to the Appellate Court from the trial court's judg- ment revoking his probation following an incident in which he allegedly robbed and threatened W, a customer at a donut shop. A police officer had been dispatched to the donut shop after a report that a customer had been robbed there. The officer was informed that the customer, W, had described the suspect as a Hispanic male with a tattoo under his eye and had indicated that the suspect was wearing dark clothing. Upon the officer's arrival at the donut shop, he saw someone causing a disturbance. That person retreated to the bathroom, where the officer found him. The officer immediately noticed that that person, the defen- dant, was a Hispanic male, had a tattoo under his eye, and was dressed in dark clothing. The defendant was then detained in a police cruiser in the donut shop's parking lot. The officer then went to W's house and took his statement. W told the officer that someone attempted to rob him at the donut shop by indicating that he had a gun. W also stated that he would be able to identify his assailant if he saw him again. The officer and W then went back to the donut shop. When they arrived, the officer asked another officer to remove the defendant from the cruiser and have him stand next to it. The officer aimed a spotlight on the cruiser and the defendant, and W stated, ''without a doubt,'' that was the person who robbed him. That identification occurred within twenty minutes of the officer's initial arrival at the donut shop and within forty-five minutes after W first reported the incident. After the defendant was charged with violating his probation, he filed a motion to suppress W's identification of him, claiming that the one-on-one show The listing of justices reflects their seniority status on this court as of the date of oral argument. 337 Conn. 612 AUGUST, 2021 613 State v. Ruiz up procedure the police used in connection with the identification vio- lated his due process