State v. Evans (Concurrence)

Summary

Justice Ecker, joined by Justice McDonald, concurs in part and in the judgment. The concurrence would hold that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the victim’s brother’s identification from a surveillance still because the witness had only a brief, isolated encounter with the defendant and the identification procedure presented substantial reliability concerns. It nevertheless agrees that the error was harmless because the identification was cumulative of stronger evidence and the overall evidence of guilt was compelling. Justice Ecker, joined by Justice McDonald, would therefore affirm the conviction on harmless-error grounds rather than uphold the admission of the identification.