People v. Santiago

OPINION OF THE COURT

Pigott, J.

In this case, turning on the accuracy of eyewitnesses’ recognition of an assailant’s partially concealed face, we consider whether two additional eyewitness identifications sufficiently corroborated the victim’s identification of the defendant, so as to render expert testimony on eyewitness recognition memory unnecessary. We conclude that they did not, and that it was error to exclude much of the proposed testimony.

I

In the early morning of January 10, 2003, a woman waiting for a train at a Manhattan subway station was attacked by a stranger. She had noticed the…