Stovall v. Denno

“The practice of showing suspects singly to persons for the purpose of identification, and not as part of a lineup, has been widely condemned.” Nonetheless, whether identification procedures constitute a due process violation requires the Court to look to the “totality of the circumstances” surrounding the identification. In this case, it was evident that the procedures utilized by the police were necessary. The victim was the only person who could either identify the defendant or exonerate him for the crime. “Her words, and only her words, could have resulted in freedom for the defendant. The hospital was not far from the courthouse and jail. No one knew how long the victim might live. Faced with the responsibility of identifying the attacker, with the need for immediate action and with the knowledge that the victim could not visit the jail, the officers followed the only feasible procedure and took the defendant to the hospital room.”