Commonwealth v. Drane

Two women were stripped of their handbags in separate incidents, about one-half hour apart, in the Dorchester section of Boston, between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. in April, 1992. The defendant was charged with robbery in each incident and, after an initial mistrial because of a deadlocked jury, was convicted of both offenses in a second trial. He appealed from both convictions.

Motion to suppress identifications. The original trial judge denied the motion to suppress the identification that was made by the first victim, Mary Ann Clancy, in a showup that occurred when the police stopped a car matching…