Legal Definitions - Wade hearing

A Wade hearing is a pretrial hearing in criminal law where the defendant challenges the validity of an out-of-court identification. For example, if a witness identifies the defendant in a lineup or in a photo array, the defendant may argue that the identification was tainted by unconstitutional methods, such as suggestive police procedures or witness coercion.

If the court finds that the identification was indeed tainted, the prosecution cannot use the identification as evidence in court. Instead, the prosecution must rely on other evidence to link the defendant to the crime.

The term "Wade hearing" comes from the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Wade (1967), which established the right of a defendant to challenge the validity of an out-of-court identification.

For example, suppose a witness identifies the defendant as the perpetrator of a robbery during a police lineup. The defendant's lawyer may request a Wade hearing to challenge the validity of the identification. If the court finds that the lineup was conducted in a suggestive manner, the identification may be deemed invalid and cannot be used as evidence at trial.