Admission of Lineup Identification of Defendant Was, At Most, Harmless Error

Reed was convicted after trial of various federal charges arising from the shooting and attempted robbery of a rival drug dealer. Reed argued on appeal that the district court should have suppressed a state court lineup identification of him as the assailant, on the grounds that the lineup was conducted in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

On appeal, the Circuit found it unnecessary to decide whether the lineup identification should have been suppressed, holding that its admission at trial was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court concluded that the independent evidence linking Reed to the shooting and robbery was overwhelming and that the jury necessarily credited the testimony of a cooperating witness identifying Reed as a participant in the charged crimes. The Court also noted that one of the victims had fingered Reed as the assailant in a photo array nearly 18 months prior to the questionable lineup, thus rendering the lineup identification “merely cumulative.” Accordingly, the Court affirmed Reed’s convictions.