State Missouri v. Billy Jim Barnett

Defendant Billy Jim Barnett seeks reversal of his conviction for first-degree robbery by means of a dangerous and deadly weapon, contending his in-court identification by the victim was tainted by impermissible and suggestive pre-trial procedures. We affirm. A jury found the defendant guilty of the midnight armed robbery of the clerk of a Springfield market and fixed his punishment at 15 years in prison. Prior to the trial the defendant's motion to suppress his identification by the clerk was denied. At trial, the clerk, without objection, identified the defendant as the armed man who had robbed him. Extensive cross-examination of the clerk by defendant's counsel failed to shake the clerk's positive identification of the defendant.