Commonwealth v. Weichell
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
390 Mass. 62 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1032 (1984)
Relevant factsFree
Witness John Foley saw a man running from a shooting under a streetlight for about a second and helped a police detective create a composite sketch by directing edits until it matched what he saw; the composite was admitted at Weichell's (defendant) trial, and Foley also identified Weichell in court as the man he saw. Weichell was convicted of first-degree murder and appealed the composite's admission as hearsay.
IssueFree
Whether composite sketches are admissible.