When a defendant challenges the admissibility of an in-court identification based upon a pretrial identification, this is an evidentiary ruling that the Montana Supreme Court reviews for an abuse of discretion. State v. Bingman, 2002 MT 350, ¶ 19, 313 Mont. 376, 61 P.3d 153.
"To determine the admissibility of an in-court identification based upon a pretrial identification, this Court applies a two-part test. First, we determine whether the pretrial identification procedure was impermissibly suggestive. If the identification procedure is deemed impermissibly suggestive, we then evaluate whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the procedure had such a tendency to give rise to a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification that to allow the witness to make an in-court identification would result in a violation of due process." Bingman, ¶ 21 (internal citations omitted).