United States v. John Donald Cairns

John Donald Cairns, appellant herein, was convicted after a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a), (d) (armed bank robbery). This court has jurisdiction over appellant’s direct appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

On October 16, 1969, the office of the United States National Bank in Portland, Oregon, was robbed of certain money. Appellant was apprehended and appeared in a lineup with five other men at a local county jail. This lineup was viewed by four witnesses to the robbery, two of whom selected appellant as the robber who approached the teller. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress “in-court” identification of appellant by those who viewed the lineup, based on the Court’s ruling in Wade v. United States, 388 U.S. 218 , 87 S.Ct. 1926 , 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967). Appellant’s motion to suppress was denied. At the trial, appellant’s motion to suppress was renewed and again denied.

It is contended that the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to suppress was reversible error because of an unconstitutional lineup identification. The record fails to support this…