State v. Godwin

ELMORE, Judge.

*184 William Edward Godwin, III (defendant), appeals his conviction for driving while impaired following a jury trial in superior court. The *185 question for decision is whether Rule 702(a1) of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence requires a witness to be qualified as an expert before he may testify to the issue of impairment related to HGN test results. We hold that it does.

I. Background

The State's evidence at trial tended to show the following: On 18 January 2011, at approximately 10:14 p.m., Daniel Kennerly, an officer with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, observed…