Source: https://www.sanfranciscoduidefense.com/dui-defense/field-sobriety-tests/standardized-field-sobriety-tests-sfts-/horizontal-gaze-nystagmus-hgn-/nystagmus/people-v-williams-1992-3-cal-app-4th-1326/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 04:16:11+00:00

Document:
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ROBERT DARRELL WILLIAMS, JR., Defendant and Appellant.
Mark Alan Hart, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Prior to trial, the court ruled on various motions in limine. One set of rulings thwarted appellant's efforts to keep the fact of his prior DUI convictions from the jury. Defense counsel stated that appellant was willing to admit all his prior convictions so the jury would not think he was contesting them. The People refused the offer, and the court refused to force a stipulation on the People.
In another pretrial ruling the court denied appellant's motion to exclude evidence regarding the "nystagmus" test (see infra.).
II. Evidence of horizontal gaze nystagmus test results was improperly admitted.
Although we have determined in the unpublished portion of this opinion that the conviction on count 1 must be reversed, we are left with an [3 Cal. App. 4th 1330] evidentiary issue likely to arise in the event appellant is retried: Was evidence regarding a horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test properly admitted?
At the beginning of trial appellant moved for an order excluding evidence of nystagmus unless the prosecutor first established a proper foundation outside the jury's presence. He cited People v. Brown (1985) 40 Cal. 3d 512 [220 Cal.Rptr. 637, 709 P.2d 440], People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal. 3d 24 [130 Cal.Rptr. 144, 549 P.2d 1240], and Frye v. United States (D.C. Cir. 1923) 293 Fed. 1013. The court conducted a hearing outside the jury's presence pursuant to Evidence Code section 402, subdivision (b) before ruling on the motion.
Officer Jose Vega, the arresting officer, testified that he had been a state traffic officer for three years ten months, before which he attended the California Highway Patrol Academy for five months. While at the academy, Vega devoted 10 hours of classroom time and 1 eight-hour lab to learning about nystagmus. The instruction was given by a sergeant, whose qualifications were unknown to Vega. The lab work consisted of conducting individual nystagmus tests on a person who had consumed alcohol. Since becoming an officer, Vega gave the test, as part of his standard field sobriety test, in some 250 instances. In less than half of those cases he determined that the subject was not under the influence based in part on the nystagmus test. In cases in which he noted nystagmus and arrested the subject for driving under the influence, the results he obtained in the field were confirmed by subsequent blood, urine, or breath tests.
The prosecution also called Dan DeFraga, who supervises the forensic alcohol analysis and drug section of the Kern County regional crime lab. DeFraga described nystagmus as an observable physiological effect that might be brought on by the presence of alcohol in the subject's system. He stated that the exact mechanism by which alcohol might produce nystagmus is unknown.
DeFraga acknowledged that factors other than alcohol impairment may cause nystagmus. He conceded that fatigue may be a factor, though "not to a significant degree." He admitted that circadian rhythm, that is, changes occurring in the body during the late night, has appeared in "the literature" as being a factor in nystagmus and remains under study. He also indicated that antihistamines may cause nystagmus. He did not know whether other noncontrolled substances such as caffeine or nicotine might cause nystagmus but conceded it to be a possibility. He agreed that because several factors might cause nystagmus, the test might produce both "false positives" and "false negatives."
DeFraga further acknowledged that various experts in the field disagree on the accuracy and reliability of the HGN test for identifying alcohol impairment. In fact, "there are not that many scientists around that have experienced or have done research in relation to nystagmus to alcohol impairment."
DeFraga said the test was developed in the early 1970's and is one of a battery of three field sobriety tests which, if the subject scores in a certain way, shows probable cause to believe the subject has a blood-alcohol concentration above 0.10 percent.
DeFraga described the nystagmus test for impairment: "The test is simple. A subject that is going to be looked at would be asked to look at a particular object in front of his or her face, would be required to follow that object while they're stationary, and while they followed that object with their eyes only. The movement of the eyes, the nystagmus bounce or jerking of the eyes is then detected or not detected as the eyes move from one side or the other."
DeFraga indicated that the focal object should be positioned 12 to 15 inches in front of the subject's face, elevated somewhat above eye level. The focal object is then moved side to side, the subject following its movement with the eyes only. The tester looks for a characteristic bounce or jerk as the eyes track sideways. The test is administered twice, the focal object moving [3 Cal. App. 4th 1332] 10 degrees per second during the first test, 20 degrees per second the second time. Movement faster than 30 degrees per second renders the test ineffective. When there is some oscillation or jerking of the eye, movement of the focal object should be stopped to determine the angle of onset.
As the Evidence Code section 402 hearing concluded, the court ruled that the HGN test had not been shown to be sufficiently reliable to support an opinion of a specific, numerical blood-alcohol level. The court further ruled, however, that Officer Vega could give an opinion that appellant had consumed alcohol, based on all of Vega's observations, including administration of the HGN test. For that limited purpose the court concluded Vega was offering lay, rather than expert, opinion.
Appellant contends the court erred. Because the issue is likely to arise at retrial, we will now address it.
A. Vega's testimony was not admissible as lay opinion.
[1a] In its ruling below, the trial court characterized Vega's opinion on the state of appellant's intoxication as lay, not expert, opinion. To the extent the opinion was based on administration of the HGN test, we disagree.
We cannot agree with the trial court's conclusion that Vega's opinion testimony was, to the extent it relied on the HGN testing, lay opinion. We next consider whether Vega was properly qualified as an expert to render the opinion he gave.
B. Vega was not qualified to give an expert opinion that appellant's nystagmus was caused by alcohol consumption.
Vega's opinion that appellant was under the influence of alcohol, to the extent it was based on the nystagmus test, rests on scientific premises well beyond his knowledge, training, or education. Without some understanding of the processes by which alcohol ingestion produces nystagmus, how strong the correlation is, how other possible causes might be masked, what margin of error has been shown in statistical surveys, and a host of other relevant factors, Vega's opinion on causation, notwithstanding his ability to recognize the symptom, was unfounded. It should have been excluded.
Respondent relies on People v. Ojeda, supra, 225 Cal. App. 3d 404. There a divided court held a police officer who administered a field HGN test was properly allowed to give his opinion that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol. The officer had received approximately 13 hours' training in administering and interpreting the nystagmus test and administers it every time he suspects a pedestrian or driver to be under the influence. He frequently observed the nystagmus phenomenon in people known to be under the influence of alcohol.
Vega's testimony concerning how he gave the HGN test to appellant and what he observed during the test may be admissible if it is linked to testimony of a qualified expert who can give a meaningful explanation of the test results to the jury. Without some connection to qualified expert testimony, however, Vega's description of the test and his observations of [3 Cal. App. 4th 1335] nystagmus are irrelevant. On retrial that evidence should be excluded unless offered as foundation for an expert's testimony. C. DeFraga's testimony was not sufficiently factual to assist the jury as to the cause of appellant's nystagmus.
 While expert witnesses usually give opinion testimony, there is no requirement that they do so. Without expressing his own conclusion, an expert may testify solely as to factual matters upon which an opinion might be based. (People v. Gaines (1934) 1 Cal. 2d 110, 115 [34 P.2d 146]; People v. Perkins (1946) 75 Cal. App. 2d 875, 878-879 [171 P.2d 919].) In such a case the expert's testimony should be admitted if it meets the test of relevance ( Evid. Code, § 210) and is not inadmissible on some other ground ( Evid. Code, § 351).
 Dan DeFraga testified as an expert for the prosecution. While he showed some familiarity with the development of the HGN test, the proper procedure for its administration, and the various possible causes of nystagmus, he did not offer any opinion as to Vega's test given to appellant or as to what caused the nystagmus Vega observed in appellant. Was DeFraga's testimony nevertheless relevant and properly admissible to give the jury a factual basis for concluding that Vega's test results showed appellant was under the influence of alcohol? On the record before us, we think not.
DeFraga's testimony, both in the Evidence Code section 402, subdivision (b) hearing, and before the jury, merely stated that nystagmus symptoms can be brought on by the presence of alcohol in the subject's system, but he readily admitted that many other factors can be responsible and could lead to a "false positive." He did not quantify the relationship between alcohol and nystagmus. He conceded there is disagreement within the scientific community on the accuracy of the HGN test for detecting the presence of alcohol, with some people dismissing it as "meaningless."
DeFraga's testimony was not sufficiently factual to aid the jury in making a meaningful evaluation of Vega's observations when he administered the test to appellant. At best it merely furnished a basis for the jury to speculate that appellant's nystagmus was caused by alcohol.
D. Whether the Kelly-Frye rule applies to HGN testing is not ripe for decision in this case.
Both at trial and on appeal Williams argued that results of an HGN test are not admissible until the prosecution has first satisfied the Kelly- Frye fn. 3 foundational requirement by showing that the test has met with general acceptance [3 Cal. App. 4th 1336] within the relevant scientific community as a means of ascertaining alcohol presence in the subject's system.
We have already decided, on other grounds, that the nystagmus evidence offered below was improperly admitted. We cannot predict that any nystagmus evidence will be offered if the case is retried, or, if so, what form that evidence may take. Under these circumstances, it would be inappropriate for us to address an issue which may not arise at retrial. Accordingly, we express no opinion on the Kelly-Frye question.
The judgment on count 1 of the information is reversed.
Ardaiz, Acting P. J., and Dibiaso, J., concurred.
FN *. Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 976.1, this opinion is certified for publication with the exception of the Facts, and parts I and III of the Discussion.
FN 1. Three other counts were charged; appellant subsequently pleaded no contest to those counts and they are not a subject of the instant appeal.
FN 2. Sentences on the three counts to which appellant pleaded no contest were run concurrently.
FN *. See footnote, ante, page 1326.
FN 3. People v. Kelly, supra, 17 Cal. 3d 24; Frye v. United States, supra, 293 F. 1013.

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