Identification evidence derived from a complainant's viewing of a suspect's Facebook photograph is not automatically inadmissible under s 137 of the Evidence Act 2008 (Vic). The frailties associated with Facebook identification — including the element of suggestion, absence of formal safeguards, and risk of displacement — go to the weight of the evidence rather than its admissibility, and can be adequately addressed by judicial direction. Where a witness has already viewed a suspect's photograph on Facebook, the displacement effect provides a sound reason for police not conducting a formal identification parade, satisfying the s 114(2)(b) requirement that it would not have been reasonable to hold such a parade.
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