Trial court erred in allowing a forensic pathologist’s opinion that the decedent’s death was a homicide as opposed to a suicide that was based on his interpretation of non-medical information conveyed to him by law enforcement officers. The State failed to adequately explain how the expert was in a better position than the jurors to evaluate whether the results of the officers’ investigation were more suggestive of a homicide than a suicide. Thus, based on the principles set out in McGrady, his opinion failed to pass muster under the new test governing the admissibility of expert witness opinion testimony that is now required in light of the 2011 amendment to Rule 702.
North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services