Court Opinion

ID: 9581054
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:11:21.569645+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:40.639913
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Judge,
concurring specially.
I agree with the majority result but write separately to make this observation. The essential difference between the majority opinion and dissenting opinion is whether the test announced in Harper v. State, 249 Ga. 519 (292 SE2d 389) (1982), should apply only to scientific “procedures” and “techniques,” or more broadly to all scientific “principles.” Arguably, the source of this confusion can be found in Harper itself and in Carr v. State, 267 Ga. 701 (482 SE2d314) (1997).
The Supreme Court’s reasoning in Harper begins with a discussion of how trial courts determine “whether a given scientific principle or technique” is competent evidence. (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 524. By the second half of the sentence, the word “principle” has been dropped and only “technique” is discussed. Id. at 525. In the next sentence “principle” reappears without “technique.” Id. After more discussion, the Supreme Court continues, “we conclude that the Frye rule of ‘counting heads’ in the scientific community is not an appropriate way to determine the admissibility of a scientific procedure in evidence.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. It then announces a holding that uses the words “procedure or technique.” Additional terms are introduced in Carr. There, the Supreme Court indicated that the Harper test should apply to “scientific test evidence” but that the appellate courts had not directly decided what type of evidence would constitute such evidence. Carr, 267 Ga. at 702-703. After describing nine criminal cases that applied Harper, the Court continued, “[w]hat these cases have in common is expert opinion based on an analysis of data, an opinion that could only be based on something more than mere observation.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 703.
In this case, the treating rheumatologist offered a “postulate,” or, according to Webster’s Dictionary, a claim without proof, that trauma *586can lead to an autoimmune problem in those who are inherently susceptible. The second rheumatologist’s expert opinion was based on four published articles, from which she concluded that trauma is recognized to be a potential trigger for scleroderma for someone who is susceptible. Those articles report the observations of other doctors treating scleroderma patients.
It is difficult, to say the least, to determine whether these expert opinions fall within the various terms used in Harper, Carr, and subsequent cases to describe that to which the Harper test applies. This case may present a good opportunity for the Supreme Court to provide some guidance.