SANDPOINT — The Idaho Supreme Court is affirming a Bonner County district court ruling on a motion to suppress an eyewitness identification in a 2016 road rage case near Oldtown.

Steven Michael Moore was accused of following a 12-year-old boy who was riding an all-terrain vehicle to his Meadowlark Lane home and using his vehicle to ram the ATV while the boy was still seated on it. Moore allegedly cursed at the boy and warned that he would shoot him to death if he caught driving fast on the road.

The incident was reported to Bonner County sheriff’s deputies and the boy provided a description of the suspect and the vehicle he was in. The following day, a deputy suspected Moore was involved in the incident based on the descriptions and obtained a copy of Moore’s driver’s license photo using her patrol vehicle’s onboard laptop computer. The color image was then forwarded to another deputy who happened to be closer to the alleged victim’s home.

After being shown the photo, the boy positively identified Moore as his assailant.

Moore’s defense counsel moved to suppress the eyewitness identification on grounds that use of a single photograph was impermissibly suggestive — an argument that both the state and 1st District Judge Barbara Buchanan agreed was valid. However, Buchanan allowed the witness identification to stand because the reliability of the boy’s identification outweighed the suggestive aspects of the identification procedure.

Moore entered an Alford plea to a charge of aggravated assault. Under the terms of the plea, Moore admitted no wrongdoing but conceded there was enough evidence to secure a conviction. Moore reserved his right to appeal the ruling on the suppression motion and was give a suspended prison term of one to two years.

On appeal, Moore argued that the boy’s description of his hair, facial hair and the suspect vehicle were all incorrect. The high court disagreed, according to an opinion published on Wednesday.

“The district court’s finding that Moore resembles the (boy’s) description is supported by substantial and competent evidence, despite the contradictions identified by Moore,” Chief Justice Roger Burdick and justices Robyn Brody, Richard Bevan and John Stegner said in the nine-page opinion.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.