311 Minn. 470 249 N.W.2d 890

STATE v. JACK LEE KIRKWOOD.

249 N. W. 2d 890.

January 14, 1977

No. 46257.

C. Paul Jones, State Public Defender, and Rosalie E. Wahl, Special Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Warren Spannaus, Attorney General, William B. Randall, *471County Attorney, and Steven C. DeCoster, Assistant County Attorney, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court without oral argument.

Per Curiam.

Jack Lee Kirkwood was found guilty by a district court jury of a charge of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to a term of 3 to 20 years in prison. Minn. St. 609.11 and 609.245. On appeal, Kirkwood contends (1) that the admission of eyewitness identification testimony violated his right to due process; (2) that the trial court erred in refusing to permit him to examine statements or reports of statements by the eyewitnesses; and (3) that there was as a matter of law insufficient evidence of guilt. We affirm.

This case arose from the robbery of a parking lot attendant in downtown St. Paul. The attendant noticed Kirkwood in. a restaurant the day after the robbery and contacted police who arrested him. The attendant positively identified Kirkwood at trial, as did two girls who witnessed the crime.

The first issue relates to the admission of the testimony of these girls. They first identified Kirkwood at a four-person lineup in which he was the only one with blond hair and the only one wearing jail clothes. Although this lineup was somewhat suggestive, an examination of the entire record forces us to conclude that there is no substantial likelihood that defendant was irreparably misidentified. See, Neil v. Biggers, 409 U. S. 188, 93 S. Ct. 375, 34 L. ed. 2d 401 (1972). Further, we note that the attendant whose identification of Kirkwood in a restaurant which led to his arrest did not view the lineup. The attendant positively identified Kirkwood at trial.

The second issue relates to the trial court’s refusal to order the prosecution to permit defense counsel to examine statements or reports of statements by the eyewitnesses in the state’s file. Under the rule adopted in State v. Grunau, 273 Minn. 315, 151 N. W. 2d 815 (1966), and State v. Thompson, 273 Minn. 1, 139 *472N. W. 2d 490 (1966),1 defendant’s counsel could have used these statements in cross-examining the eyewitnesses when they testified. However, he did not request the statements until after the state had rested and his request was limited to seeing anything which was favorable to his case. The trial court made an in-camera inspection of the statements and determined that they contained nothing which was favorable to defendant or inconsistent with anything the witnesses had said while testifying. Kirkwood has not demonstrated that the trial court erred in this conclusion.

Kirkwood’s contention that there was insufficient evidence of guilt as a matter of law has no merit.

Affirmed.

State v. Kirkwood
311 Minn. 470 249 N.W.2d 890

Case Details

Name
State v. Kirkwood
Decision Date
Jan 14, 1977
Citations

311 Minn. 470

249 N.W.2d 890

Jurisdiction
Minnesota

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