In People v. Allen , Gregory Allen was suspected of being one of two armed, masked men who held up a barber shop in Queens.
A victim recognized Allen -- whom he knew as "Junior" -- since his mask was open around the nose and eyes. Allen was also selected from a "mug book" and "photographic array." Months later, he was also chosen from a lineup.
At trial, while the Queens County Supreme Court trial judge allowed the victim to testify that he recognized Allen by voice and body type, the court refused to allow a defense expert to discuss "the reliability of eyewitness identifications."
After Allen was convicted of multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery, he appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which found the Supreme Court acted "providently" when it refused to allow Allen's expert testimony. Although Allen pointed to a New York State Court of Appeals decision -- which ruled that in cases which rely on the accuracy of eyewitness identifications with little or no other corroborating evidence, "expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identification" is admissible -- that precedent didn't apply to the facts of this case.
The AD2 thought there was sufficient corroborating evidence of Allen's guilt. Most incriminating was the fact that when officers tried to get Allen into the lineup, he "refused to cooperate unless all of the participants wore masks," yet the police had never informed him that the barber-shop robbers wore facial coverings.
It looks like it's going to take Tonto to get that masked man out of the hoosegow.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Allen