Pretrial Decisions—Out-of-Court Identifications

When a defendant argues that evidence from a photographic lineup should be suppressed because it is unduly suggestive, the Montana Supreme Court reviews the district court's findings of fact to determine whether they are clearly erroneous, and reviews whether those findings are correctly applied as a matter of law.  State v. Dubray, 2003 MT 255, ¶ 57, 317 Mont. 377, 77 P.3d 247.

A district court's decision to admit statistical evidence about witness identification of suspects from photo lineups is reviewed for abuse of discretion.  State v. Zlahn, 2014 MT 224, ¶ 38, 376 Mont. 245, 332 P.3d 247.