A judge in Nassau County has upheld a police photo array where the defendant in a burglary case is an Orthodox Jew and was the only individual in the photographic lineup with side curls. Although defense attorney Michael Sean Weinstock of Great Neck argued that the array was unduly suggestive, Acting Supreme Court Justice David Ayres (See Profile) said it was not obvious from the photo that the defendant wore payis. Ayres declined to suppress the photographic identification of Robert Decker, who is charged with a burglary in Oceanside.
A non-victim witness picked Decker out of an array that included six images of white males with similar features, according to a transcript of an April 15 hearing in Mineola. Records also indicate that Decker was linked by DNA to blood recovered from the crime scene.
