IDENTIFICATION. "Evidence of person al identity which is inconsistent with other evidence in the case" should be considered "with scrupulous care and caution ;" Tisdale v. Ins. Co., Fed. Cas. No. 14,059. Where the witness has seen the person but once, and that several years before, his uncorroborated' testimony would be insufficient; Reid v. Reid, 17 N. J. Eq. 101; and the identification of an adult person whom the witness had not seen since the former was a child would be entitled to but little weight ; In re Jew Wong Loy, 91 Fed. 240.
Identification might be satisfactory, though the witness should not be able to describe the person's features; De Witt v. Barley, 13 Barb. (N. Y.) 550; it would be strengthened if the witness could select the person's photo graph from a number; Cora. v. Connors, 156 Pa. 147, 27 Atl. 366. A witness may identify a person by his voice ; Com. v. Hayes, 138 Mass. 185 ; Filcher v. U. S., 113 Fed. 248, 51 C. C. A. 205. If the speaker were unseen and the acquaintance slight, the evidence would be weak ; Ramsay v. Ryerson, 40 Fed. 739. The voice may have been beard on the telephone ; Lord Electric Co. v. Morrill, 178
.Mass. 304, 59 N. E. 807; such evidence was received where the witness did not know the person till afterwards ; People v. Strollo, 191 N. Y. 42, o3 N. B. 573. In the Tichborne Case, Cockburn, C. J., charg ed that the identification of an adult son by a parent who had not seen him since childhood was much less satisfactory than that of persons who had brought him up. In Lee Sing Far v. U. S., 94 Fed. 834, 35 C. C. A. 327, it was held to be improbable, though not impossible, that a Chinese could identify his daughter of fifteen years of age whom he had not seen since she was two or three years old. See Moore, Facts, 1365.
As to the effect of variation in names with respect to records as notice, see 1Etna Life Ins. Co. v. Hesser, 77 Ia. 381, 42 N. W. 325, 4 L. R. A. 122, 14 Am. St. Rep. 297 ; Johnson v. Hess, 126 Ind. 298, 25 N. E. 445, 9 L. R. A. 471; Crouse v. Murphy, 140 Pa. 335, 21 Atl. 358, 12 L. R. A. 58, 23 Am. St. Rep. 232. And as to names in a record in dex, see 14 L. R. A. 393, note.