they looked nothing like him.

Three eyewitnesses were in the store when the perpetrator emerged from the backroom–the scene of the crime. The perpetrator briefly interacted with the eyewitnesses, telling them to leave the store. Two of three eyewitnesses picked Faarooq out of a photo spread as the man they saw at the Game-Arama.

Descriptions of the suspect’s physical appearance and clothing did not match Faarooq. Eyewitnesses described the suspect as “clean cut” with “short hair”. At the time, Faarooq was growing out his hair to get it braided, but the detectives used an old photo in the lineup that better matched the suspect description. Witnesses also described the suspect as having a “thin build.” However, Faarooq was a 195 pound football player. Moreover, witnesses told police that the suspect was wearing a black hooded shirt and tan pants; those who saw Faarooq that day testified that he was wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. 

The defense never called an expert witness to address potential issues with the reliability of the eyewitnesses testimony, such as cross-racial identification, stress factors and weapon focus.