People v. Boyer

R.S. Smith, J. (dissenting).

I dissent, because I think that requiring a Wade hearing in cases like this one, where the chance that the hearing will lead to the suppression of evidence is vanishingly small, is a waste of time and puts an unjustified burden on the criminal justice system.

The purpose of a Wade hearing is to decide whether a pretrial identification of the defendant violated the defendant’s constitutional rights and, if so, what the remedy should be (see United States v Wade, 388 US 218, 242 [1967]). In cases where a police officer who observed a crime identified the defendant…