Commonwealth v. Hicks

The Commonwealth appeals from a pretrial ruling allowing the defendant’s motion to suppress a robbery victim’s out-of-court and in-court identifications of the defendant as one of the two men who perpetrated the robbery. The circumstances were these. At 8:00 p.m. on October 7, 1981, the victim, an employee of Boston City Hospital, got out of work and, because he lacked train fare, proceeded to walk towards his home in the South End some distance away. On West Concord Street he was approached by a young man on his left and asked the time. He was then approached by another young man on his…