State v. Barker

I concur in the majority's judgment in this case. Barker argues that the State failed to establish the reliability of HGN testing at trial, as required by Rule 702(a) and McGrady . While this appeal was pending, our Supreme Court decided State v. Godwin and held that, through Rule 702(a1), "our General Assembly clearly signaled that the results of the HGN test are sufficiently reliable to be admitted into the courts of this State." 369 N.C. 604, ----, 800 S.E.2d 47, 53 (2017). In other words, Godwin held that the legislature has deemed HGN testing to be reliable as a matter of law, and…