State v. Murphy

OPINION

BIRCH, Justice.

The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court that convicted Cora Murphy, the defendant, of driving while under the influence of an intoxicant 1 and remanded the case for a new trial. We consider now the appeal of the State of Tennessee, 2 and we must determine whether testimony concerning an Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (“HGN”) sobriety test constitutes “scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge” under Tenn. R. Evid. 702. We hold that the HGN test is a scientific test. To be admissible at trial, such evidence must satisfy the…