Prosecutors and defense attorneys regularly rely on expert witnesses to explain evidence that benefits from specialized knowledge. That may involve reviewing things like breath and blood testing procedures, DUI retrograde extrapolation, accident reconstruction, and medical conditions that could affect impairment assessments. This article examines the different types of experts used…
Expert testimony can play a pivotal role in DUI charges in North Carolina. In part, that’s because allegations of impaired driving often involve complicated scientific, forensic evidence and technical procedures—such as chemical breath tests, blood alcohol analyses, and field sobriety testing—that lay jurors or even judges may not fully understand.…
When a law enforcement officer in North Carolina suspects impaired driving, they may conduct Standarized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) to gauge whether enough evidence exists for an arrest or further chemical testing. Roadside dexterity tests—commonly the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, the Walk-and-Turn test, and the One-Leg Stand test—remain a…
North Carolina drivers who are suspected of impaired driving may undergo two main types of breath or alcohol tests: a preliminary screening at the roadside and an evidentiary test under the state’s implied consent laws. These procedures are guided by statutes like G.S. 20-16.2, which defines the expectations placed on…
DUI checkpoints ordinarily involve standardized patterns for stopping vehicles, as well as the use of portable breath tests (PBTs) and SFSTs – Standardized Field Sobriety Tests to assess possible alcohol consumption and appreciable impairment. North Carolina law allows law enforcement agencies to set up checking stations and roadblocks pursuant to…
North Carolina regulates portable breath tests (PBTs), sometimes referred to as the “breathalyzer,” through specific administrative rules and statutory provisions. Law enforcement officers regularly rely on alcohol screening devices to assess whether a driver has consumed alcohol and may be part of the “arrest decision” related to probable cause. To…
North Carolina regulates alcohol screening under a set of rules involving technical standards, operational procedures, and legal provisions that govern how breath tests are administered and how results may be used in criminal proceedings. Officers rely on portable breath alcohol content screening devices (sometimes referred to as a “PBT” or…
This article discusses how alcohol normally travels through your body when you’re alive, how that changes once life ends, and why postmortem shifts can influence criminal defense in North Carolina. We will also explore the potential legal implications of an inaccurate or misleading BAC when the decedent—who, in criminal cases,…
The human body functions as a complex processing system, breaking down what we consume through a series of chemical reactions. Alcohol moves through this system in phases, from the first drink through the next morning. The effects of hangovers extend beyond the social hours of the night before, through sunrise,…
The United States Supreme Court recently addressed the question of whether the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment is violated when a substitute analyst provides expert witness testimony about the results of forensic testing performed by a non-testifying analyst. The Court held that when an expert, in this instance a…