South Carolina v. Liverman
Annotate this CasePetitioner Chris Anthony Liverman was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner sought certiorari with respect to the claim that the trial court refused to conduct a "full" in camera hearing pursuant to "Neil v. Biggers," (409 U.S. 188 (1972)). Petitioner contended the eyewitness's identification of him as the shooter at a police-orchestrated show-up was unduly suggestive and therefore tainted the in-court identification. The trial court, relying on "McLeod v. State," (196 S.E.2d 645 (1973)), did conduct an in camera hearing and found the pretrial identification was reliable, based primarily on the witness's previous knowledge of Petitioner. Following the court of appeals' decision, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in "Perry v. New Hampshire," (565 U.S. ___ (2012)). The issue in this case for the Supreme Court concerned "the intersection of a suggestive police show-up identification procedure and an eyewitness who knows the accused." The Court concluded that "McLeod" could not stand in light of "Perry" and overruled "McLeod" insofar as it created a bright-line rule excusing a "Neil v. Biggers" hearing where the eyewitness knows the accused. The Court nevertheless affirmed Petitioner's convictions and sentence because any error in failing to conduct a "Neil v. Biggers" hearing was harmless.
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