Court Opinion

ID: 9853057
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:41:48.568869+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:40.352678
License: Public Domain

WYNN, Judge
concurring in the result.
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 702(a) (2004), an expert may present an opinion based upon his or her specialized knowledge if that opinion assists the trier of fact. In this case, I believe the trial court erred by allowing the expert in drug chemistry to testify, as an expert witness, about the use of a radio scanner and a police frequency book. However, I agree with the majority that the admission of this evidence was harmless under the facts of this case.
Rule 702(a) of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence provides that:
*353If scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 702(a) (emphasis added). If a trier of fact has the same knowledge about the evidence or use of the evidence as the “expert” witness, then that witness is not properly giving an “expert” opinion but merely a lay opinion. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 701 (2004).
In this case, SBI Agent Lisa Edwards, an expert in drug chemistry, testified, as an expert witness, about the use of a radio scanner and a police frequency book. Agent Edwards testified that the radio scanner and police frequency book were used to monitor “air traffic that is going on between officers[,]” and gave Defendant a “jumpstart” if “the law [] is coming their way[.]”
Agent Edwards’ opinion is not based on scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge that would be unknown to the average juror. Therefore, Agent Edwards’ opinion on the use of the radio scanner and police frequency book should not have been admitted as an expert opinion, but as a lay witness opinion. State v. Chavis, 141 N.C. App. 553, 565, 540 S.E.2d 404, 413 (2000) (“To qualify as an expert, the witness need only be ‘better qualified than the jury as to the subject at hand.’ ” (quoting State v. Davis, 106 N.C. App. 596, 601, 418 S.E.2d 263, 267 (1992), disc. review denied, 333 N.C. 347, 426 S.E.2d 710 (1993))). Accordingly, the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Agent Edwards to testify as an expert witness with regard to the radio scanner and police frequency book. State v. Holland, 150 N.C. App. 457, 461-62, 566 S.E.2d 90, 93 (2002), cert. denied, 356 N.C. 685, 578 S.E.2d 316 (2003).
However, while Defendant objected to Agent Edwards’ testimony, he failed to object to Officer Robbins’ testimony as an expert witness about the radio scanner and police frequency book. Thus, the trial court’s error in allowing Agent Edwards’ expert testimony was harmless, as the same expert opinion had previously been entered into evidence. State v. Alford, 339 N.C. 562, 570, 453 S.E.2d 512, 516 (1995) (“Where evidence is admitted over objection and the same evidence has been previously admitted or is later admitted without objection, the benefit of the objection is lost.”).